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geometropolis · 1 year ago

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grt3D episode 20 (finale): the endpoint

origin z listened intently to her brother’s plan. “OKAY, Y… BUT WOULD IT WORK?”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” origin y asked.

“OCTAGON WAS ONLY ABLE TO REACH INTO THE 3RD DIMENSION BEFORE WHEN MÖBIUS STRIP WAS THERE. SHE HAS SOME DIMENSIONAL POWER NOW, BUT I DON’T KNOW IF SHE WOULD HAVE ENOUGH TO DO IT ON HER OWN.”

“SO WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?”

“WELL, YOU CAN HELP HER.”

“HOW?”

“WELL, WHEN YOU KNOW HOW IT WORKS. SHAPES ARE ABLE TO CROSS INTO THE PARADOX WHEN ATTACHED TO ONE OF US, RIGHT?”

“...RIGHT.”

“SO, I’M THINKING, IF OCTAGON COULD DO HER 3D ARM THING WHILE ATTACHED TO YOU SHE’D BE ABLE TO REACH INTO THE 3RD DIMENSION.”

“OKAY… BUT NO, THAT WOULDN’T WORK. FOR ANY SHAPE TO BE ATTACHED TO ME THEIR LINES HAVE TO BE GONE.”

“SO JUST HAVE ONE OF THE OTHER SHAPES USE THE GRAPHER ON HER WHEN SHE’S ATTACHED TO YOU.”

“WOULD THAT REALLY WORK?”

“I THINK SO. BUT THEN, I DON’T KNOW IF OCTAGON WOULD BE ABLE TO REACH FAR ENOUGH WHEN SHE DOES DO IT… THE 2ND AND 3RD DIMENSIONS ARE PRETTY FAR APART.”

“...OH, HUH… WELL, I THINK I HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT TO DO. WE GOT THIS! SO ANYWAY, UM, I’LL BE HERE. ONCE IT’S TIME FOR THE ELIMINATION COME TELL ME, AND OUR PLAN WILL BEGIN. THEN STICK THE CONTESTANTS TO YOURSELF AND FLY TO THE LOGARITHM LABYRINTH LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!”

“THEIR LIVES DEPEND ON IT!”

“YES. OKAY. I’M JUST GONNA UPDATE THE FOLKS ON THIS END AND I’LL BE RIGHT BACK.”

“GOT IT, Y!”

“SEE YOU, Z.”

origin y flashed out of the paradox.

sphere smiled at origin z. “you got this.”

“i hope so… hey, i’ll be right back.”

origin z flashed out of the paradox herself and translated over to the cabin. she wasn’t surprised when she found hexagon sitting outside, wide awake.

“hey, hexagonal prism, you and the others will go home today.”

“what?” hexagon gasped. “really?”

“yes. my brother and i have come up with a plan… and it’ll only work if you, cylinder, and pyramid cooperate. i can’t really explain in detail but i think you’ll know when it’s time.”

“okay. got it. i’ll be sure to tell the others.”

“okey dokey!!! now i gotta go, before möbius strip sees me.”

“thank you so much, origin z!”

origin z giggled as she flew off.

hexagon held octagon’s pacifier in her hand and squeezed it. everything will be alright soon enough, she thought. just you wait…

…

“COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!!!!!!!!” möbius yelled. “IT’S ELIMINATION TIME! DOO-DOO!!!!”

cylinder groaned. she was too tired for this nonsense. she dragged pyramid out of bed and together with hexagon (who had still been outside when they found her) went over to möbius strip.

origin z heard möbius’s voice and flashed into the paradox.

“OKAY, PLEBS. IF YOU KNOW ME AT ALL, YOU KNOW WHO I’M ELIMINATING RIGHT NOW.”

“we actually, um, don’t know anything about you,” cylinder stated. “who are you, anyway? what are you?”

“THAT’S FOR ME TO KNOW AND FOR YOU TO FIND OUT.”

“...okay then.”

“ANYWHO… IT’S HEXAGON. WE ALL KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE HEXAGON. SPARKLE?”

origin z had flashed back. she was glowing. “yes?”

“TAKE HER AWAY!”

origin z began to buzz; not only hexagon, but also pyramid and cylinder were drawn towards her.

“WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU DOING???”

“hey, origin z,” hexagon piped up, “take the others. but leave me here. i’ll catch up to you.”

“...are you sure?” origin z asked.

“yes. now go!”

origin z stopped buzzing. with pyramid and cylinder attached, she began to soar over to the logarithm labyrinth.

möbius strip was seething. “WHAT THE HELL?” he was about to fly off when hexagon grabbed him.

“don’t think i’m done with you, möbius!” she yelled.

“LET GO OF ME, YOU WRETCH!”

“no way! i’m pissed off at you! you cling so strongly to the idea that everyone’s a monster that you’ve let yourself become one! you’re an idiot! you’re a hypocrite! my primes, what is wrong with you?”

“NOTHING. NOTHING AT ALL. STOP TRYING TO BE A HERO. HEXAGON. I SEE IT IN YOUR EYES, YOU JUST WANT TO SPITE ME. YOU JUST WANT SOME SELFISH, SELFISH CATHARSIS.”

“so what if i do?” hexagon cried. “i don’t care if you think i’m horrible! because we are the same! you’re not a god and neither am i! so shut up and stop acting like one!”

“but what if i am a god?” he whispered. “how would you know?”

meanwhile, origin z had arrived outside of the tunnel.

“okay,” she murmured to pyramid and cylinder. “good luck.”

the two nodded, smiled and began to crawl through the tunnel.

back in the 2nd dimension, origin y had attracted all of the shapes but oval to himself now that his sister had given him the signal.

“are you ready?” origin y asked.

oval gave him a thumbs up and blasted the shapes with the grapher. their limbs reappeared.

“okay, everyone. slowly and carefully stand up. hold hands and make a line… octagon should be at the end.”

trapezoid and pentagon squeezed each other’s hands. pentagon was holding octagon’s.

“are you okay?” she asked.

octagon’s face was clouded with fear. “i don’t know.”

“you can do this!”

“yeah!” trapezoid agreed.

octagon smiled slightly.

“now,” origin y continued in his gentle voice, “i’m going to flash just a little bit. i’m not gonna flash strong enough to go to the paradox, but just to give octagon more dimensional power. okay?”

octagon nodded.

origin began to glow a bright light.

“okay, octagon. reach your arm out. we can do this.”

octagon extended her free arm. slowly it began to rise out of the 2nd dimension, carrying her with it.

as she rose into that strange limbo she held tighter onto pentagon’s hand.

pyramid and cylinder had made their way into the cave, noticing the floating möbius strip in the center: their home, the 2nd dimension.

suddenly a fuschia hand reached out from the möbius strip, coming through it somehow, without a body visible on the other side.

“grab on!” octagon’s voice rang out. pyramid and cylinder did so. “NOW!” octagon yelled; origin y stopped transferring dimensional power to her, and they were all dragged back to the 2nd dimension.

origin y let go of all the shapes and they collapsed on the ground.

“home,” pyramid murmured. “home! i’m finally home!!” they hugged cylinder and the two wept.

“wait…” heart said, “w-where’s hexagon?”

octagon’s eyes widened.

“she told origin z to go without her, and that she’d catch up,” cylinder answered, wiping her eyes.

“...so we have to do it again,” square said.

“can you do it, origin?” kite asked. “octagon?”

“yes, we can,” origin y said. “but i’ll ask my sister what’s going on… i’ll be back in a sec…” with that he flashed away to the paradox.

at the same time, hexagon shoved möbius strip aside and began to run for the logarithm labyrinth.

she was speeding along as quick as she could, but möbius strip soon overtook her.

“hexagonal prism!” origin z called.

hexagon turned around.

origin z attracted the little polyhedron to herself, and together they flew to the tunnel entrance.

unfortunately, möbius got there first. he began to hit his body against the mouth of the cave tunnel, causing rocks to fall and block up the entrance.

“NO!” hexagon cried.

“don’t worry, pal!” origin z exclaimed. “you can take the long way around… and möbius strip won’t be able to stop you.”

she flew over to the base of the mountain, where there was an opening.

origin z released her and quickly returned her limbs. “okay. you’ll find your way there eventually… good luck! and thank you!!”

“thank you, origin z… i’ll miss you.”

origin z glowed. “i’ll miss you too. now get going!!!!”

hexagon began to traverse the network of caves and tunnels within the mountain. i wish octagon were here with me, she thought. we got through the labyrinth in the 2nd dimension so quickly together!

to play it safe, hexagon kept her right hand on the wall. it would take a while for her to find the tunnel to the 2nd dimension, but she would find it eventually.

möbius strip watched hexagon enter the mountain… so, like before, he bumped against the mouth of the cave so it was blocked off with rocks and stones. hexagon heard a distant rumble.

she was trapped in the labyrinth.

a sudden feeling of panic surged in her body, causing her to let go of the wall and frantically go from tunnel to tunnel.

meanwhile, origin y had just returned from the paradox.

“okay, guys, so hexagon has to traverse the 3D version of the logarithm labyrinth to get to us, so it might take a bit longer for her to get here,” he explained.

“wait, why?” pyramid asked.

“möbius strip blocked up the main entrance.”

“oh… the only other ways in are the skylight and the other tunnel, but both are way too small…”

“so how will she get back?” trapezoid fretted.

“well, we all got dragged back here once origin stopped flashing, right? because the dimensions were correcting themselves?” droplet asked.

cylinder nodded.

“then i might have an idea… pyramid, cylinder, could you possibly join our hand-holding chain? we’ll need to reach even farther…”

hexagon was running around erratically, desperately, not knowing what to do.

the 2D team repeated their plan, this time, with a longer shape chain, letting octagon fully emerge into the 3rd dimension. of course, she was still holding pentagon’s hand.

“HEXAGON?” she screamed. “HEXAGON!!!”

hexagon stopped in her tracks.

“FOLLOW MY VOICE, HEXAGON! WE’RE HERE TO GET YOU!”

“NO YOU’RE NOT,” an all too familiar voice growled.

“möbius?” octagon asked in surprise, glancing around. “geez, where is that voice coming from?”

möbius strip ignored her question. “WHY RESCUE HER?” he could not enter the cave, but his voice could; it echoed around octagon. “HEXAGON LEFT YOU IN YOUR TIME OF NEED. WHY SHOULD YOU TREAT HER ANY DIFFERENTLY?”

octagon ground her foot into the rocky floor in anger.

“WHY NOT MAKE HER FEEL THE SAME PAIN YOU DID?”

“BECAUSE I LOVE HER, YOU IDIOT!” octagon cried.

hexagon ran towards the sound of her voice, tears streaming down her cheeks. she found a deep hole in the wall; when she peered through, she could see octagon’s eyes, shining with tears and defiance.

“OCTAGON!” hexagon gasped.

“HEXAGON?”

octagon looked through from the other side.

“YOU’RE MAKING A GRAVE MISTAKE, OCTAGON,” möbius chided.

octagon stuck her hand through the tunnel. “IT’S THE BEST MISTAKE I’LL EVER MAKE! GRAB ON, HEXAGON!”

hexagon reached her arm into the tunnel, trying to feel for octagon’s hand. “I CAN’T REACH!” she cried.

“I HOPE YOU ALL DIE IN YOUR HELLHOLE,” möbius strip snarled.

“I HOPE SO TOO, MÖBIUS!” octagon screamed. “I HOPE SO TOO!”

she pushed herself against the cave wall, stretching her hand out as far as she could. she felt a hand in the darkness. she grabbed it and held tight.

“NOW, ORIGIN! NOW!!!!!!”

origin y ceased his flashing, and the shapes’ supply of dimensional power was cut off. they all were pulled back to the 2nd dimension, hexagon phasing through the cave wall as her body entered limbo. she passed out.

meanwhile, möbius strip was now alone beside the mountain… well, not as alone as he would like.

“hello, sir!” origin z greeted.

“get away from me.”

“NO THANKS!!!!” and she began to buzz.

“WHAT? NO! STOP!!!”

but there was nothing he could do. möbius strip was dragged closer and closer towards his co-host.

“oh yeah,” she said, “don’t be surprised when you don’t see sphere in the paradox. i already let him go.”

with that, she flashed into the paradox.

…

“so we c-can finally go home,” heart sighed in relief.

“indeed we can,” cylinder – rectangle? – said.

“then let’s go!” pyramid – triangle? – exclaimed.

“wait, guys!” origin y yelped.

“what is it now, big guy?” parallelogram asked.

“it’s just… look, i know we’ll all see each other again. but this is still a goodbye, right?”

pentagon and trapezoid exchanged glances.

“so we should… we should say goodbye.”

“especially because…” square bit his lip. “we’re moving. all four of us group twoers. we’re moving out of geometropolis.”

droplet gasped. “no! square!”

“don’t worry!” circle patted her on the head. “we’ll keep in touch!”

“we may find someplace better than here,” square continued. “we may not. either way, we’re gonna explore this dimension a bit more…”

star fell onto him and wailed. “noooo!!!! i’ll miss you so much, bro!”

square chuckled. “oh yeah? well i’ll miss you more!!!”

the shapes gave their farewells, all of them temporary. they would see each other again.

helvetica had been sitting around hexagon, who had still been knocked out. all of the commotion caused her to wake up.

she rubbed her eyes. “where… where am i?”

pentagon grinned at her, helping her up. “you’re home!”

hexagon looked around. “hey, where did octagon go?”

after a few moments, octagon reappeared, holding hexagon’s ukulele.

“you…” she began, “you left this.” she held out the instrument.

hexagon’s eyes glimmered. she held out octagon’s pacifier. “and you left this. trade?”

“yes, please.”

the best friends exchanged objects.

“hey…” hexagon murmured. “just for the record… i’m sorry. i had my reasons for doing what i did, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”

octagon averted her eyes. “yeah. it did hurt, and it still does… hexagon, i’m still upset at you. but thank you for the apology. i shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions… you’re one of my best friends forever, and i’m sorry i forgot that.”

“it’s okay, sweet girl.” hexagon extended her arms for a hug.

octagon simply took one of her hands and shook it, smiling softly. “we’re not there yet, cookie thief. but we will be.”

origin y watched in silence as the shapes slowly but surely left the field. it was the 20th day. just as long as the contract asked for.

“hey, origin,” a voice called.

origin y turned to see circle smiling up at him.

“thank you for everything,” circle said. and he kissed him.

circle then ran off to join his friends. “bye everyone!! love you all so much!!!!”

origin glowed. he flashed away to the paradox.

there was love etched into the fabric of the universe. there were emotions plotted onto its graph. it was held together through brunnian links.

geometropolis was not blank now.

it was full of color.

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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geometropolis · 2 years ago

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grt3D episode 9: break the 3rd wall

the night seemed darker than usual. the door to group two’s cabin was open, letting the cold air seep into the otherwise warm haven.

square sighed. “listen, triangle, i don’t hate you.”

“yes you do.” triangle was standing in the doorway, motionless.

“shut up. no i don’t. i have plenty of reasons to be pissed, but i don’t hate you.”

“why?”

“if you know someone for practically all your life, it’s hard to suddenly hate them over something.”

“that’s stupid.”

“you’re stupid. go to bed, triangle.”

“no.”

“fine. be exhausted in the morning for all i care.”

“shut up.”

but triangle did not leave; she still stood in the doorway, motionless.

“geez, decide what you’re doing!” square groaned. “either stay or go. it’s getting cold in here.”

“good.”

“you’re an idiot, triangle.”

“i know.”

“...isn’t it crazy how someone from helvetica’s finally being eliminated? took ‘em long enough.”

“they’re too good.”

“i know. they didn’t even choose to be together, and yet they work so much better than the rest of us.”

“well, if you know someone for practically all your life, it’s easy to suddenly hate them over something.”

“whatever. good night, triangle.”

“no thanks.”

triangle stayed where she was all night, standing in the door, motionless. the air didn’t feel cold to her at all.

…

“COME ONE, COME ALL, TO THE ELIMINATION OF THE DECADE!” möbius declared. “HELVETICA FINALLY LOSES!!!”

“y’know, sir, helvetica did technically lose the first challenge along with yim yum,” origin corrected.

“SAME DIFFERENCE. ANYWAY…”

triangle and square seemed much calmer than they had the day prior, but triangle looked incredibly tired. origin couldn’t tell if this fatigue was physical or mental – or both. either way, the two seemed to have softened.

incredibly, parallelogram was chatting with heptagon.

droplet and star were walking hand in hand.

and helvetica, most uncharacteristically of all, was full of unease. trapezoid, hexagon, and pentagon were all holding hands, their faces tense and brows knitted; well, trapezoid and hexagon looked worried anyway – pentagon didn’t look troubled at all.

octagon, meanwhile, kept to herself, away from the rest of the team she had grown so fond of. her expression was bitter and anxious, her face drawn with stress.

“IT’S TIME FOR ONE OF YOU LOVELIES TO LEAVE! AND WHO WILL IT BE?”

octagon kept shaking her head. NO, her mind screamed. NO NO NO NO NO NO.

“SAY GOODBYE TO… PENTAGON!”

“NO!” everyone in helvetica cried. octagon fell to her knees.

hexagon and trapezoid squeezed their little friend’s hands. pentagon looked shocked, but not upset.

“this can’t be happening,” hexagon sobbed. “tell me i’m dreaming, trapezoid. tell me this isn’t real!”

trapezoid sniffed. “i’m sorry.”

“C’MON, TWINKLE! TAKE HER AWAY…”

origin hesitated, but then started to buzz. pentagon was drawn towards him.

“oh,” she gasped.

“PENTAGON!” trapezoid and hexagon cried. octagon was silent.

“for if you did you’d see that i have had a bite to eat~!” pentagon sang as she vanished, chuckling.

that song, octagon thought. that stupid song is the cause of all of this. that stupid song!

“OKEY DOKEY FOLKEYS…” möbius cut through the tension in the air like scissors through a taut rubber band. “IT’S TIME FOR SOME NEW TEAMS!!! ARRANGE YOURSELVES INTO THREE TEAMS OF THREE.”

square and triangle stayed together; as did heptagon and parallelogram, and the remaining members of helvetica.

“i guess we’ll have to split up,” star sighed.

“aw, now i’ll have to miss you too!” droplet cried. “i don’t want to leave you, star!”

“i know, i don’t want to leave you either… but it’ll be okay.”

“you sure?”

“you’ll do great! i’m sure of it.”

“okay…” droplet looked at the remnants of group two and yim yum. “i guess i’ll join square and triangle.”

“then i’ll join heptagon and parallelogram. good luck, bud!”

“you too!”

the two friends held hands one last time before joining their new teams.

“THAT WAS FAST. WHAT WILL YOU ALL CALL YOURSELVES?”

“hey, droplet,” triangle greeted. “you’re the one who found the power of two back in the first challenge, right?”

“she sure is,” square answered. “welcome to the team, droplet!”

droplet looked nervous, but she smiled. “how about our team name combines all of our names? like our initials?”

“D, S, T…” square murmured. “how about ‘go the DSTance’?”

that’s so cringy, triangle thought. i like it. “perfect!” she exclaimed.

“how about…” star suggested to his new team, “‘the homeslices’?”

“that’s terrible,” parallelogram said. “but it’s better than ‘the cool kids’ or ‘yim yum’ or whatever. how’d we even come up with those?”

heptagon shrugged.

“AND YOU, HELVETICA? WILL YOU STILL BE HELVETICA?”

“no!” hexagon wailed. “we’re nothing without pentagon!!!”

“UH. OKAY.” möbius wrote “nothing without pentagon” down. “SO, UH, I’D START THE CHALLENGE NOW, BUT TWINKLE ISN’T BACK YET FOR WHATEVER REASON. SO I GUESS WE JUST HAVE TO WAIT LIKE WE USED TO.”

and so the new teams got to settle in.

“what do you think of the allegory of the cave?” parallelogram asked. “i think generally speaking it makes sense, but the idea that there’s some absolute truth that just, well, exists out there is kind of shocking to me. i don’t think i necessarily agree with that.”

“maybe there are no true ‘forms’?” heptagon postulated. “maybe it’s just a way to put an end-goal to something that doesn’t truly have one.”

“yeah… we all want to know everything, even though we know we can’t… hm, hey, are you excited for today’s challenge? you’ve been doing really well in them lately. you too, star.”

“thanks…!” star said, his voice slightly confused. heptagon sighed.

“anything i can do to help…” heptagon muttered.

“hey möbius,” square called.

“YES?”

“if we’ve changed teams around, what are the sleeping arrangements?”

“WELL… NOTHING WITHOUT PENTAGON WILL STAY IN THE HELVETICA CABIN. THE HOMESLICES WILL BE IN THE YIM YUM CABIN AND GO THE DSTANCE WILL BE IN THE GROUP TWO CABIN.”

“gotcha.”

origin finally reappeared, ready to broadcast.

“OKAY EVERYONE, TODAY’S CHALLENGE IS A RELAY RACE.”

“but we just did a race a few days ago!” triangle exclaimed.

“OH WELL! THIS TIME THE ENTIRE TEAM WILL BE INVOLVED – AS THE RACE HAS THREE LEGS. IN THE FIRST LEG, ONE MEMBER WILL CRAWL ON ALL FOURS FROM HERE TO THE CABINS. IN THE SECOND, ANOTHER MEMBER WILL RUN BACKWARDS FROM THE CABINS TO THE EDGE OF THE FOREST. IN THE THIRD, THE LAST MEMBER WILL JUST RUN REGULARLY BACK HERE. DECIDE WHO’S DOING WHAT.”

“can i do the first leg?” droplet asked.

“sure,” triangle said. “square, do you want second or third?”

“i’m fine with second.”

“okey doke.”

“i’m fine with whatever,” heptagon said in a monotone voice. “whatever you need me to do…”

“okay then, can you do the first leg?” parallelogram asked.

“sure…”

“okay! then i’ll do third.”

“second it is,” star confirmed.

octagon looked at her teammates, who were murmuring to one another. “hey,” she called, “who wants to do what?”

but they were too busy… murmuring.

“hey, octagon…” hexagon’s voice was soft. “...do you wanna talk?”

“we don’t have time for this!” octagon exclaimed. “guys, we have a challenge!”

“octagon…” trapezoid’s voice trailed off as he patted hexagon’s shoulder.

octagon shook her head. “i guess it’s all up to me then…”

“OKEY DOKEY, FIRST RUNNERS!” octagon, droplet, and heptagon lined up and dropped down to their arms and legs. “ON YOUR MARKS… GET SET… GO!” he turned to origin. “now, about the order for the new teams…”

droplet burst ahead of the other two – she wasn’t very fast, but she was able to spring ahead at first.

octagon and heptagon were neck and neck; both seemed to be going as fast as they possibly could out of some kind of desperation, and they soon overtook droplet.

“c’mon, droplet!” triangle exclaimed from near the cabins. “you can do it!”

droplet bit her lip and kept going. this won’t be like the last race, she thought. i’m gonna win it for my team!

octagon slowed down a bit and droplet was able to pass her. heptagon reached the cabins first and tagged star, who noticed the sad look on his face. droplet arrived just after him and tagged triangle, who high-fived her. “nice going!”

let’s go, let’s go! octagon thought to herself. you gotta catch up!

she finally reached the cabins and stood up. triangle had already gone a long way – she was known for her speed, even if now she was going backwards. star was a few feet behind her.

octagon shook herself and got going, running backwards as fast as she could; she soon passed star, who had tripped.

triangle went towards him. “okay, get up, idiot.” she grabbed his hand and helped him, before continuing.

hexagon and trapezoid were still sitting by möbius strip, holding hands and talking.

“ARE YOU TWO UH. ARE YOU TWO GONNA DO SOMETHING OR…?”

“listen, this is a hard blow,” trapezoid said defensively. “let us grieve.”

“LOOK, PENTAGON’S NOT DEAD. AND OCTAGON’S DOING JUST FINE, SO WHY AREN'T YOU?"

trapezoid blinked and looked away. “octagon’s different…”

octagon rolled her eyes at triangle. i’m able to pass her now, she thought. but triangle was so quick that she was able to speed past octagon again, even after stopping to help star. “darn!” octagon spat.

triangle finally reached the edge of the forest, where square was waiting. “hey,” she said.

“hey,” he said.

they paused.

“i’m sorry.”

“for what?”

“what isn’t there for me to be sorry for?”

star reached the forest and tagged parallelogram, who started running back to möbius strip.

octagon paused by the forest to catch her breath. triangle and square were just… walking. and talking. octagon glowered at them.

“if there’s anybody you should apologize to, it’s circle and rectangle,” square said.

“i know! but i can’t. you’re the only one here. so i might as well apologize to you.”

“so…?”

“i’m sorry for being so horrible to you. and it’s all because of this stupid show! i wanted to go to the third dimension so bad, i almost… i almost forgot about us.”

“about us?”

“us, our friendship. i’ve known you and your brother and circle since forever. but that all vanished… i was so hyped for this new, shiny, exciting prize that i dropped everything i already had for it.”

“and now you can never really pick it up again…”

triangle and square strolled slowly, their footsteps as tentative as their words.

“i don’t know if circle and rectangle will ever forgive me. i don’t know if you’ll ever forgive me.” triangle paused and looked square in the eye.

square reciprocated her gaze, but said nothing.

“but either way, nothing will ever be the same,” triangle continued. “all because i wanted to be anywhere but here.”

“triangle…”

“i guess i never realized that if i did win, if i did go to the third dimension… i would be going alone.”

octagon finally got going again. “don’t do this to yourselves!” she yelled to triangle and square as she passed. “run, you idiots!”

neither responded.

parallelogram was almost back to möbius strip, where his teammates were waiting for him.

“parry! parry! woo!!!” star cheered. heptagon waved half-heartedly.

“AND THE HOMESLICES ARE SAFE!” möbius strip proclaimed as parallelogram met with star and heptagon. “WHO WILL IT BE NEXT? GO THE DSTANCE OR NOTHING WITHOUT PENTAGON?”

"awesome job, both of you!" parallelogram exclaimed, high-fiving his teammates.

"mhm…" heptagon furrowed his brow.

octagon kept running at breakneck speed, even though she felt like her legs could fall off, fueled half by a desire to win and half by anger towards her teammates.

i'm just as sad about pentagon's elimination as they are! she thought. doesn't mean i get to mope around! they should thank me once i save them from elimination!

"i don't think i want to win anymore," triangle murmured.

"droplet does," square responded. triangle ran.

"NOW THIS IS DRAMA!" möbius cackled as triangle and octagon both approached the end of the race. "YES. YES!"

"c'mon sucker, out of the way!" triangle was a few feet from octagon.

"no thanks." and with that octagon crossed the finish line. triangle was a second too late.

"AND WITH THAT, NOTHING WITHOUT PENTAGON IS SAFE, AND GO THE DSTANCE IS UP FOR ELIMINATION – AND, UNSURPRISINGLY, IT'S SQUARE'S FAULT."

"no, it's mine," triangle stated. "it always has been."

"oh, shut up," square countered. "don't hog the blame all to yourself. sharing is caring, after all. it's our fault."

"aw darn, but i wanted to be eliminated!"

"too bad."

"as long as it isn't me," droplet said sheepishly.

"oh, yeah, darn. so sorry for losing, droplet…"

"only apologize if i get out." she smiled. "otherwise you're all clear."

"for the first time in forever! ha."

parallelogram shook his head. "i cannot believe i won a race against triangle of all people. triangle!"

star shrugged. "hey, it could've been worse. at least we didn't have pentagon still around for helvetica…"

"TOO SOON!" hexagon wailed.

"shhshh…" trapezoid soothed. "it's okay."

"i did it," octagon whispered. her voice grew louder. "I DID IT! I BEAT TRIANGLE AND SAVED US FROM ELIMINATION ALL BY MYSELF!" and with that she raised her fist in triumph – and it went through möbius strip.

…through? through?

octagon's hand went under part of this strange loop and over another. octagon's hand went through möbius strip.

"octagon." origin's voice was grave. "what. did. you. do."

"w-what do you mean, i–" octagon's arm began to lift… off of the face of the world. out of the 2nd dimension.

"NO!" möbius yelled. "YOU IDIOT! NOW I'M GONNA GO BACK TO–"

and möbius strip vanished. octagon's arm snapped back.

"...what the heck just happened?" parallelogram asked.

"well, um, huh…" origin started. "...how much do you all know about möbius strip?"

"not much," square replied. "we just saw him in his ad and accepted immediately cuz, y'know, 3rd dimension."

"well, that's the thing. möbius strip is from the 3rd dimension. he's just able to come here out of a strange technicality: like all of you, he only has one edge and one side. but he isn't supposed to be here, which is why he kind of… glitches. he certainly can't be properly observed by any of you. he's… an anomaly."

"so why did he get sent back?" droplet asked.

"well, octagon here accidentally broke a law of physics… you see, things can only go through other things in the 3rd dimension. the universe had to fix that little error… so it sent him back.”

heptagon had a strangely hopeful expression. "is the show canceled?"

"nope. möbius will come back soon… and until then, i can host!"

"oh… okay…"

octagon looked back at her teammates. they hadn’t even looked up.

“what is wrong with you people?” she cried. “you care about nothing besides pentagon!” octagon stormed off.

“we care about you, too…” trapezoid whispered into thin air.

…

“hey guys! wanna learn a fun song?” pentagon exclaimed.

“pentagon…” circle murmured.

“are you okay?” kite asked.

“huh? yeah. there was this really funny song hexagon taught us, and–”

oval approached the little shape. “pentagon, you just got eliminated.”

“i know.”

“aren’t you upset?”

“not really. i came here to have fun, and i did! though i… i do miss the others, now that i think about it…”

“well, you’ll get to see them in a sec.”

pentagon was amazed by the 10x10 screen. “i can see the whole challenge from here!”

“yup!” heart said. “it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

“speak for yourself…” rectangle muttered.

“hey, could you come here, rectangle?” circle said.

“what?”

“triangle and square… aren’t screaming at each other.”

“...oh.”

pentagon was happy to see her teammates – but her mood soured. “golly, they really miss me… now they aren’t having fun at all…”

circle laughed, half sadly. “don’t worry. they’ll get over you eventually…”

rhombus gazed at octagon. she’s really the only sane one there, they thought, and yet she seems just as emotional as them…

the outcome of the race, however, was the biggest surprise of all.

kite laughed and translated over to circle and rectangle. “i’m sorry, heh, i’m incredibly proud of him for doing so – but how in primes’ name did parallelogram beat triangle in a race?”

rectangle’s voice was distant. “triangle finally slowed down…”

circle moved closer to him.

“hey, wait, look!” pentagon exclaimed. there was octagon, her hand… lifting?

everyone was speechless.

“well,” heart said at length, “if origin is the host now… i guess he’ll need a new co-host!”

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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geometropolis · 1 year ago

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grt3D episode 16: shape escape!

the dark of night swept over hexagon’s eyes, but she was not asleep. she was standing in the middle of the field alone.

she’s gone, she thought. she’s really gone.

suddenly, hexagon noticed something sitting on the ground. as she approached, she realized it was octagon’s pacifier. her breath caught, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

you aren’t a monster, hexagon, she thought to herself. it’s just a competition. you had a reason to clinch the win for yourself. after all, do you really think möbius strip would have let you tie? no. you’re not a monster. you’re not a monster. you’re not a monster.

“but what if i am?” she asked aloud. she picked up the pacifier and held it gingerly, as if guilt poured out of it into her shaky hands.

“what if you’re what?” a voice asked.

hexagon turned around sharply to see star standing behind her.

“are you okay?” he asked.

“...huh? oh? i’m fine.”

“do you wanna come back to our cabin? it must be lonely sleeping all by yourself.”

hexagon looked away again. “no, it’s fine. i’m fine.”

“what are you doing out here so late?”

“i could ask you the same thing.”

“well… i first went to your cabin to check on you, but you weren’t there, so… i found you here!”

“hm.”

“now answer my question, dude! why are you out here? and how do you feel about the final?”

“...i was just taking a walk. clearing my head. and i dunno… it’s the final, i guess?”

“me personally?” star grinned. “i’m pumped! this is gonna be a lot of fun. i wonder what the challenge is gonna be! darn… hey, are you sure you’re good? i think you should get some sleep. tomorrow’s gonna be a big day!”

hexagon furrowed her brow.

“and hey, you can join square and i in our swag cabin if you’d like…!”

“...why are you talking to me?”

star blinked. “huh?”

“why are you asking me if i’m okay, or if i want to go to bed…? why do you care about what i’m doing?”

“...because you’re my opponent!”

“but you should be sleeping yourself! you should be making sure you’re okay! in any event, it’s better for you if i’m not!”

“you know i wouldn’t like that… it should be a fair fight! and either way, you’ve been so nice to all of us for the entire show, so you deserve the same.”

hexagon shook her head. “what’s the point of being nice to me? we’re supposed to be enemies.”

star smiled. “i think you know the point of being nice, bromeister. aaaaanyway… i dunno what you’re up to, but i’m gonna go to bed. feel free to come with… either way, good night and good luck! i’m sure you’ll do great tomorrow!”

he turned and began to leave.

“...wait,” hexagon blurted.

star turned, still smiling. “changed your mind?”

hexagon squeezed the pacifier tight in her hand. “...i’ll come with you. i need the sleep.”

…

“ARE YOU DONE YET?” möbius strip asked.

origin turned around. “just finished!” he had been generating the materials for the final challenge: three large rooms, each bedecked with a strange variety of items.

“THANK THE PRIMES. OKEY DOKE!!! GET THOSE GUYS OVER HERE.”

“sure, sir… hey, am i allowed to let the eliminated contestants out of the paradox so they can watch in person?”

“NO… THEY MIGHT INTERFERE.”

origin sighed. “okay… i’ll go get square, hexagon, and star…”

he first translated over to helvetica’s old cabin, expecting to find hexagon inside. he manifested a hand and knocked on the door.

“hello?” he called. but there was no response. upon opening the door, he found the cabin empty.

confused, he went over to square and star’s cabin and knocked on the door. when he opened it, he found hexagon asleep with the others. he was glad to see them all being chummy enough with one another to sleep in the same room despite being opponents.

“wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!” origin sang, rousing the contestants.

“morning already?” square asked groggily, eyes half-lidded.

star yawned.

“indeed it is,” origin said gently. “rise and shine, everyone! the final challenge will start soon.”

hexagon opened her eyes suddenly, without any languidness, as if she hadn’t been asleep in the first place. she briskly got out of bed and followed origin outside, octagon’s pacifier in hand.

after a couple of minutes the three little polygons had arrived in the field, where möbius strip was waiting.

hexagon eyed the strange structures before her. “what are these?”

“THIS WILL BE YOUR FINAL CHALLENGE,” möbius strip answered. “AN ESCAPE ROOM!”

star and square exchanged glances.

“THERE ARE THREE IDENTICAL ROOMS BEFORE YOU, COURTESY OF TWINKLE. EACH OF YOU WILL BE LOCKED IN ONE OF THESE ROOMS, WHICH CONTAIN CLUES ON HOW TO ESCAPE. THE FIRST ONE OUT WINS THE RACE TO THE THIRD DIMENSION!”

hexagon balled her fist around the pacifier. this is it, she thought. you better make it count. you better make it all worth it…

“you all ready?” origin asked the contestants.

“YOU BETTER BE!” möbius interjected. “TWINKY, LET THEM INSIDE!!!!”

apparently, the doors to the escape rooms could be easily opened from the outside but not the inside; origin manifested three hands, which he used to open all three doors at once, letting all three contestants into their rooms. he promptly shut the doors after them, locking them inside.

“I SHOULD MENTION HOW THE WALLS ARE SOUNDPROOF, SO YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO HEAR EACH OTHER… OF COURSE, I’M LOUD ENOUGH THAT YOU CAN STILL HEAR ME, XD. NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

all three got to work.

star looked around. the items furnishing the room were odd: a radio; a tv; a remote; two chairs stacked one on the other by the wall; a rock; an empty picture frame. at first he just stood there gazing at his surroundings, but then he shook himself.

you gotta get going! he thought to himself.

square approached the empty picture frame first. on the bottom it had an inscription saying “104.3”.

“oh, that’s the classic rock station on the radio,” he realized. he smiled, thinking of droplet. “i bet star won’t know that, haha… anyway, what does it mean?”

then he glanced over and noticed the rock.

hexagon turned on the tv: the weather channel was on.

“another lukewarm day in geometropolis!” the shape on tv announced. “mid 60s, no precipitation, low winds. just another lazy summer day…”

hexagon noticed a little card sitting by the tv: it was one of those tv channel menus you find at hotels. weirdly enough, instead of just listing the channels, the menu had times written down, and the word “up” below all of them. next to channel 4 was “2:30”; next to channel 5 was “11:00”; next to channel 6 was “4:45”. hexagon squinted and glanced over at the radio, which said it was 10:37.

“am i really meant to wait half an hour to watch something on channel 5?” she asked herself, before picking up the tv remote. “maybe not…”

star was tossing the rock between his hands as he went about the room; he then set it down to more properly assess the chairs. they were stacked in the corner, so star removed the top one and set it down beside the other.

“can’t help but wonder what kinda clues would be on a chair,” he muttered. “i guess i can sit down on one? that’s something.”

he proceeded to sit down. and he proceeded to think. i don’t really know what i’m doing, do i? i’ve never been the type for this sort of challenge… i bet rhombus or droplet would be great at this. they’re both really observant. and so is heart. huh…

he grabbed the rock again and stood up, wandering around more. star then spotted the inscription on the picture frame.

“what on earth is ‘104.3’ supposed to mean? maybe if i turn it over…” star recalled how, in school, heart used to type out 0.7734 and turn it upside down to say ‘hello’. “e-h-o-i? ehoi??”

star bit his lip. “guess i’ll just try sticking this number anywhere i can to see if it’ll do anything…” and so he made his way to the tv.

hexagon pressed the ‘guide’ button on the remote and flipped to channel 4; she then scrolled to see what was gonna be on at 2:30. “square roots and you.” she flipped to channel 5, and scrolled to 11:00. “integer interviews with cardioid.” finally, she flipped to channel 6, and scrolled to 4:45. “tessellation: will you ever find that special someone?”

she smiled at the last one. “hexagons can tessellate with a bunch of shapes… but anyway. square roots and you, integer interviews with cardioid, tessellation…” she put her hands on her hips. “what do i make of that?”

hexagon paused. “s, i, t… ah! sit!”

she put the pacifier in her mouth (to free up her hands), grabbed one of the chairs, set it down, and sat on it.

“...what now?”

square turned on the radio and flipped to 104.3; they were playing golden slumbers by the binomials.

“mm,” he murmured. “love this one… but what does the rock have to do with it?”

he bent down and picked up the rock. like almost all rocks, it was angular and gray. square gently tapped the radio with it, and nothing happened.

“rock… and roll? maybe i roll it?” square sent the rock rolling on the floor, but, angular as it was, it didn’t go very far. “darn. hm… i’ll come back to you later, rock.”

square put the rock down beside the radio, and made his way to the tv. he turned it on; it was on the city drive live channel.

“y’know, why do they call it city drive live?” he asked rhetorically. “geometropolis is barely a city, if it even is one.”

he began flipping through the channels, but ended up returning to city drive live. perhaps there was a clue in the channel the tv was set to at the beginning?

square decided to sit down as he watched. he clambered up the stack of chairs and sat on the top one. as he did so, one of his corners grazed the wall. he looked just north of him to see a tiny dent in that part of the wall.

“oops, did i make that?” square felt it with his hand, but realized it wasn’t the right shape to be made by one of his angles. he then heard a soft click as his hand brushed past it, but nothing happened. “is this… the keyhole?”

star had tested out 104.3 on the tv and the clock, but he soon realized that such a number wouldn’t do anything on those devices. he made his way over to the radio and turned it on, tossing the rock in one hand. he saw that the station had a decimal number.

“nice!!!” he exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. but… which fist?

the rock went flying out of his hand and landed right on top of the radio, crushing it to bits!

“aaah!” star cried. “nooooo!!!” he frowned – he just destroyed what was likely an important clue! he wasn’t even able to get to the right station yet!

he put the rock aside and tried to put the radio fragments back together. then he noticed a gleaming gray piece he hadn’t seen before – a strangely shaped piece of metal.

“the key!!!!!!!!!!!!”

hexagon got up from her chair and picked up the channel menu again. “s… i… t… up? sit up? but i was sitting up…”

she glanced back at the chair she had been sitting in, which was in front of the chair it had been on top of.

her eyes brightened. “i guess i wasn’t sitting as ‘up’ as i could’ve been!” she put the chair back over the other, which she then sat on again. now her top edge was right up against the north wall, where she felt a little notch and heard a little click.

“ah! so there’s the keyhole! hm, now where’s the key… i suppose i haven’t looked at the picture frame yet, have i…”

she got down from her perch and approached the empty picture frame. “104.3,” she said to herself. “sounds like a radio station! i’ll try that out…” and from there she approached the radio.

square was pacing around the room. “key, key, key… where in primes’ name is that key…”

suddenly he tripped over the rock. “i hate rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!” he cried. he then picked himself up again and chuckled. “funny that i like rock music, then…”

he turned and glared at the radio, which was still playing the binomials. now they were on let it be.

“are they doing twofers? nice.”

square proceeded to go around the room and sort through every item, to see if he could find any trace of the key.

“nothing behind the picture frame… nothing behind the clock… nothing behind the chairs… nothing behind the tv…” he picked up the radio. “nothing behind the radio either… ugh!”

hexagon turned the radio to 104.3 and listened closely. “the binomials… this must be a rock station. or maybe it’s specifically for 70s songs? i guess i should listen for the next song to make sure.”

lucky for her, the song was just ending. then arithmetic idiot by green day came on.

“okay, this is definitely not a 70s station! it must be a rock station after all. maybe that explains…?”

hexagon picked up the rock by her feet.

star, meanwhile, was still overjoyed from his happy little accident. he went over to the door, expecting to find the keyhole there. however, there was none. he scratched his head and turned around.

“oh, keyhole!!! come out, come out, wherever you are!!!!!!”

he noticed a teeny-tiny dent in the wall behind the tv.

“gotcha!” star shoved the key inside, but nothing happened. the dent was too small for the key. “i guess this isn’t it…”

he began to stick the key into any little nook and cranny he could find… and still nothing worked.

square was annoyed. square was frustrated. at this point, he didn’t care if he didn’t win; he just wanted to get out of that stupid room! he picked up the rock and threw it at the door. the rock bounced off and flew past his face.

“haha! you didn’t get me this time, rock!”

crash! then it hit the radio.

“...oh.”

square groaned and sat down, defeated.

hexagon steadied the rock in one hand. “well, there’s rock on the radio… so i’ll put a rock on the radio!” with that she threw it down onto the radio, which burst into pieces. a glimmer of light reflected off of one of these pieces, catching hexagon’s eye. she then grabbed it in her hand. it was the key!

“yes!” she exclaimed, scaling the chairs once again. she stuck the key in the dent in the wall, and it fit all the way inside.

click!

hexagon ran to the door, which was now unlocked. she slammed it open and ran outside. there was no sign of square or star. she took the pacifier out of her mouth.

“yes!” hexagon cried. “yes, i did it! i won, i really won!!!!!!”

“congrats, hexagon!” origin cheered, clapping with manifested hands.

“you really did win,” möbius strip said, translating near her. “...what did i say would happen?”

her eyes widened.

meanwhile, star was fiddling with the key near the chairs.

“this teeny-weeny hole won’t work… ah, how about that one?” he clumsily shoved the key into a dent in the wall.

click!

“wait… was that it?”

star turned around and approached the door. and wouldn’t you know it, the darned thing was unlocked!

“huh!”

he left his room and saw hexagon standing outside her own. she had… a mortified expression?

“i guess i didn’t win, did i?” star said to himself, smiling slightly.

“you got second place, though!” origin said. “that’s wonderful!”

star noticed that the big shape had his camera lens on. “hey, can the eliminated contestants see me right now?”

“they sure can!”

star beamed. “hi guys!!! hi heptagon, and parallelogram, and oval, and rhombus, and droplet, and… and heart.” his face fell slightly, but only for a moment. “i’m a winner.”

“no you’re not!” a voice behind him cried. “hexagon’s right there!”

star turned around. it was square, who finally made it out. star grabbed him and gave him a hug. “this guy’s a winner too, guys! we’re all winners!!!”

square chuckled and pushed him away. “you’re an idiot.”

“at least i solved that escape room before you did!”

“then we’re both idiots.” and then square hugged him back.

“winners? idiots? we have so many titles, it’s insane.”

origin glowed, happy to broadcast this to the paradox.

“HEY TWINKLE!” möbius called. “STOP FOCUSING ON THE LOSERS. GET A LOAD OF THE WINNER!!!!!!”

origin begrudgingly did as his boss said. square then looked over and noticed hexagon’s expression.

“i think…” he mumbled, “i think something’s wrong.”

star and square followed origin.

“AND SO WE CONCLUDE OUR STORY,” möbius began once origin arrived, speaking mainly to the eliminated contestants. “AS A WISE MAN ONCE SAID… FINDERS KEEPERS, LOSERS WEEPERS. DON’T CRY ABOUT LOSING. CRY ABOUT BEING DUMB ENOUGH FOR SOMEBODY TO BEAT YOU. CRY ABOUT BEING GULLIBLE ENOUGH FOR SOMEBODY TO TRICK YOU. CRY ABOUT BEING STUPID ENOUGH TO BELIEVE FRIENDSHIP IS REAL. ONLY THE REAL GENIUSES, LIKE HEXAGON HERE, CAN TRULY WIN A COMPETITION. ISN’T THAT RIGHT, HEXAGON?”

hexagon was shaking. she said nothing.

“YES. SHE WAS ALWAYS GOING TO WIN. THAT’S HOW LIFE WORKS. LOL! SUCKS TO SUCK, LOSERS!!! IN A FEW DAYS YOU’LL GO BACK TO YOUR REGULAR LIVES, YOUR PATHETIC LIVES. MAYBE ONE DAY A CHANCE LIKE THIS WILL COME AGAIN. WOULD YOU DESTROY EACH OTHER OVER IT? DESTROY YOURSELVES? HISTORY DOESN’T LIE. YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AND YOU KNOW IT, YET YOU KILL TO HEAR THE OPPOSITE TOLD TO YOU. YOU SCUM. YOU WRETCHED, PRIME-FORSAKEN SCUM. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE LIE WHILE IT LASTED. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SHOW.”

square and star stepped closer.

“möbius strip?” square gasped. “the hell?”

“SAY GOODBYE TO THIS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL WORLD, HEXAGON! THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!!!”

hexagon stared at origin as möbius descended upon her, clutching the pacifier she held. “octagon, i–”

“do it, twinkle,” möbius growled, interrupting her.

origin cut him open with a pair of scissors.

FLASH! möbius strip opened into a strip… a 3D strip.

möbius and hexagon disappeared.

the race for the 3rd dimension was over.

hexagon had won.

…

“what do you think she was about to say to you?”

“i don’t know. i don’t care. she’s gone anyway. it’s all over.”

“hey, guys?” origin piped up. “i’m gonna let you all out of the paradox. but the contract says you have to stick around on the show grounds for a few more days.”

“how many?” heptagon asked.

“four, i think? …okay everyone, get ready…” then origin began to buzz, and the eliminated contestants stuck to his edge. they all flashed out of the paradox.

star and square were still standing outside the escape rooms, stunned. the two had been accompanied by origin until he suddenly disappeared for the paradox.

square heard a buzzing noise, and turned around to see origin again – with everyone else! star followed his gaze.

“hi, winners,” origin greeted. “sorry for leaving you here before, i just had to make sure these guys were okay after… all that.”

“just for the record,” parallelogram spoke up, “we’re not.”

“anyway, star, could you go get the grapher for me?”

star glanced at square, who nodded and ran back to their cabin. he soon returned with the remote.

“bombs away, origin,” he said.

origin released all of the shapes, and square blasted them all with a beam of light. as each got hit, their limbs returned.

“so that’s where it’s been!” rhombus exclaimed.

square then dropped the grapher and immediately ran into rectangle, circle, and triangle for a hug.

star, meanwhile, stood still. he was soon knocked over by droplet, heptagon, and parallelogram.

“buddy!” parallelogram chuckled. “look at you, mister 2nd place! that’s awesome!”

droplet grinned and glanced over at square. “you two are amazing!!!!”

star smiled and laughed.

heart was watching from afar. he took a deep breath and approached him.

“long time no see,” star said before heart could even open his mouth.

“hi,” heart replied.

“...i’m sorry for being a bad friend. i hope i’ve become a better person in the meantime.”

“i hope s-so too.”

star smiled. “i’ve learned a lot since i turned pink.”

“and i’ve learned a lot since i made you that way… hey, why don’t we start over?”

“yeah?”

“okay, so… hi! um, my name is h-heart.”

“hello, heart, nice to meet you! say, what do you like to do in your free time?”

“i like to sing and play video games. how about you?” suddenly heart’s face fell. “...i’m just now realizing that i’ve never a-actually known your hobbies. oh my primes…”

star grinned. “i don’t know what i like to do in my free time, actually. i’m finding out!”

“i guess you’re a new person to the both of us.”

“indeed i am!”

“i’ll see you around…! hey, i n-never caught your name, new f-friend!”

“it’s star.”

“star. i like it!”

“i like it too. wow, who knew we had so much in common.”

heart chuckled, beaming.

“square!!!” droplet exclaimed, running over to him. “you did so well!!!!”

square made room for her beside his other friends. “thanks! hey, wait a minute… droplet, are you thinking what i’m thinking?” he eyed star.

droplet giggled. “of course i am!”

square whispered what he had in mind to triangle, rectangle, and circle. the five of them crowded around star.

“you’re insecure, don’t know what for,” they began to sing. “you’re turning heads when you walk through the door~! don’t need makeup to cover up, being the way that you are is enough~!”

star groaned.

“everyone else in the world can see it,” they continued, kite and oval joining in, “everyone else but you~!”

“will you never let me live that down?”

“BABY YOU LIGHT UP MY WORLD LIKE NOBODY ELSE!” group two, yim yum, and the cool kids (minus star) all belted. “THE WAY THAT YOU FLIP YOUR HAIR GETS ME OVERWHELMED! BUT WHEN YOU SMILE AT THE GROUND IT AIN’T HARD TO TELL… YOU DON’T KNOW, OH-OH! YOU DON’T KNOW YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!!!!”

they all collapsed in a fit of laughter, star included.

origin glowed as he watched them mingle and chat as the daylight faded. some of these contestants had a record of being bitter and frustrated with the challenge – which should reasonably have been heightened given those horrible things möbius strip had said! – but instead of whining and wailing they were happy. they were together, so they were happy.

“borromean rings indeed,” he said to himself.

however, not everyone was happy. the remains of helvetica were standing off to the side, not talking to their fellow contestants.

octagon’s face, as expected, was lined with anger, loneliness, and despair. seeing this, trapezoid tried to console her.

“want to take one of our nightly walks again?” he asked.

her face suddenly softened. “yes. please.”

pentagon took her by the hand. “then let’s go!”

heptagon approached origin as the three left for the forest. “um… is it possible for me to go home now?”

origin looked at him intently. “y’know what? i want to keep you guys around, just in case something happens in the next few days allotted in the contract. however… möbius isn’t around, so i’ll make an exception for you.”

heptagon’s face brightened. “you’ll take me back?”

“...i think it’d be best if you went by yourself. how about you go say goodbye?”

heptagon’s face suddenly clouded. “oh…” he inhaled sharply and went over to the other contestants.

“borromean rings…” origin murmured. “borromean rings.”

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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geometropolis · 2 years ago

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grt3D episode 8: friends… to the end

it was time for trapezoid and pentagon’s nightly walk through the calm, dark forest edging the competition grounds; the air was still and brisk. the two had just left their cabin when a voice startled them.

“hey… can i join you?”

trapezoid looked back to see octagon in the doorway. “you want to go on a walk with us?”

“...yeah.”

“is that okay, pentagon?”

pentagon beamed. “yeah! of course!!!”

trapezoid smiled as well. “we’d love to have you, octagon. i’m glad you’re, you know, putting yourself out there…”

octagon glanced away. “don’t make a big deal out of it or anything,” she huffed. “it’s just a walk…”

“if you say so…!”

“what’s this about a walk?” hexagon piped up. “oh, didn’t expect to see you up so late, octagon. aren’t you usually tired in the morning?”

“it’s nothing,” octagon said behind clenched teeth. “i’m just joining trapezoid and pentagon on their walk. it’s nothing.”

“oh! …can i come too?”

so the four shapes left their cabin in the dead of night to traverse the forest together. it was cold out, but none of them felt it as it nipped at them; after all, they were all holding hands.

“have i ever told you the story of that one time i got kicked out of summer camp?” trapezoid asked as the group entered the woods.

“yes,” octagon said.

“but tell it again!” pentagon jumped in excitement.

“okay. so it was, what, ten years ago? i was going to the camp just south of geometropolis, i think it was called camp vertex or something. anyway i had an awesome, crazy counselor, his name was nonagon.”

“how was he crazy?” hexagon asked, knowing the answer.

“well, one time nonagon almost lost our bunk in a museum, and one time he told us this story about how he went illegally ziplining somewhere? and every friday he would wear a ridiculous costume and dance around camp. he was insane, i have no idea how he didn’t get fired… so anyway, one day our bunk was supposed to have a scheduled activity, but the staff for it never showed up, so we were sitting around doing absolutely nothing. nonagon and the other counselor were supposed to come up with an activity for us to do in the meantime, but instead we just sat around.”

“so what did you do?” pentagon asked, grinning.

“well i had to go to the bathroom, so nonagon took me around to one of the buildings. and y’know, there was this golf cart sitting right outside with the key still in it. so i go to the bathroom and i come out, and nonagon’s like, “somebody left this key in the golf cart. anybody could just ride it.” and he winked at me! and y’know i was young and an absolute idiot so of course that seemed like the most awesome, crazy thing i could possibly do. so i got in the golf cart and started riding it around!”

pentagon giggled.

“what happened next?” octagon asked.

“so this thing was going all over the place, cuz i had no idea how to drive! it was swerving all over and guess what? i crashed it right into the camp director’s office!”

pentagon and hexagon burst into laughter.

“oh my goodness,” octagon gasped, chuckling incredulously. she had heard this story before, yet it was just as unbelievable as the first time.

“so yeah, i was never able to go there again. but when they asked, i didn’t rat out nonagon – i just couldn’t! – so they never found out his part to play in that whole thing… i think he might be the camp director now, actually…”

“you didn’t tell us that before!” octagon laughed. “what the heck???”

helvetica kept on walking, the chill of the night kept away by the warmth of their banter.

“y’know, that reminds me of the time my principal at school caught me stealing mathematicookies from her office,” hexagon added.

“oh, so you were a little trouble-maker too!” trapezoid teased.

“was not!”

“you two should really not be so proud of yourselves.” octagon rolled her eyes affectionately. “pentagon’s gonna get ideas.”

“i’m gonna drive my teacher’s car into her classroom and steal all the snacks she hides from us!” pentagon cackled. “and when i get expelled i’ll say it was hexagon and trapezoid’s idea!!!”

“noooooo!!!!” trapezoid and hexagon both cried, before bursting into laughter themselves.

soon enough, trapezoid decided to head back to the cabin.

“we aren’t gonna walk longer?” pentagon asked.

“i don’t want octagon to lose too much sleep.”

“hey, it’s fine if you keep walking,” octagon replied. “i can just go back myself.”

“nope!” trapezoid said. “it’s too dark for you to go back alone. we’ll go together.”

“hey, i can go back with octagon,” hexagon offered. “the two of you can continue walking.”

“are you sure that’s fine?”

“of course.”

so hexagon accompanied octagon out of the forest and back to their warm and cozy cabin.

“just for the record,” hexagon pointed out as she sat in bed and strummed her ukulele, “i was a well-behaved kid. that cookie-stealing incident was a one-time thing.”

“sure.” octagon smirked.

“what, and you were a perfectly sweet little girl? i doubt it.”

octagon rolled her eyes and smiled. “so, um… what can you play on the ukulele?”

“i thought you’d never ask…” hexagon took a breath, grinned, and began to sing in a dramatic voice. “i swear i did not play hooky, i just want to eat a cookie~!”

octagon chuckled and continued hexagon’s song. “i am a girl who’s oh-so sweet, but i just want a little treat~!”

“not bad!” hexagon started strumming again. “please don’t take a lookie, inside your jar of cookies~!”

“for if you did you’d see that i have had a bite to eat~!”

the two collapsed in laughter.

“we should start a band,” hexagon said, lying down. “it’ll be called ‘the cookie criminals’.”

“‘the sweet stealers’.”

“‘the dessert delinquents’!”

octagon giggled and shook her head. “y’know what we should do? go to bed, for primes’ sake.”

“okay… good night, sweet girl…!”

“good night, cookie thief…”

…

square left his cabin early and went to the field; möbius strip was already there.

“i’m ready to be eliminated,” square said. “i know it’s me.”

möbius didn’t say anything. instead, he just waited for origin to appear.

“GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!!” möbius screamed, waking the rest of the contestants up. “LET’S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“you seem to get louder every day, sir,” origin noted.

“aw, very kind of you to say so. OKAY,” he began, once the contestants had arrived, “IT’S TIME FOR ANOTHER MEMBER OF GROUP TWO TO BE ELIMINATED…”

hexagon was busy showing her and octagon’s new song on the ukulele to trapezoid and pentagon, who found it hilarious.

“STOP LAUGHING, YOU CRETINS!!!!!! I SAID IT’S TIME FOR ANOTHER MEMBER OF GROUP TWO TO BE ELIMINATED…”

square stood with his hands on his hips. “enough with the fanfare, we all know it’s gonna be me. i made my team lose, after all.”

rectangle and triangle looked uneasy.

“AAAAAAAND THE NEXT ELIMINATED CONTESTANT IS RECTANGLE!”

“what?” all three members of group two gasped in unison.

rectangle started to tremble. “no. no. no. no! this can’t be it!”

“rectangle.” square’s voice was faint. “oh my primes, rectangle!”

“this isn’t r-real, there has to be a mistake!” rectangle was crying now.

“LET’S GO, TWINKLE.” origin began to buzz with a sigh. triangle stared on in horror.

“rectangle, i’m so sorry,” square choked out. “i’m so sorry. i’m so sorry.”

rectangle stuck to origin. “square…” and he was gone.

“my brother…”

“AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS!” möbius announced. “ANOTHER ELIMINATION FRAUGHT WITH INTENSE EMOTIONAL DISTRESS!!!”

square glanced at triangle with wide eyes.

“ANOTHER CONTESTANT WRONGED BY THEIR FRIENDS BECAUSE OF A SILLY COMPETITION!!!!! ISN’T IT INCREDIBLE?”

triangle’s eyes widened as well. she inhaled sharply and fell to her knees.

origin reappeared with his camera lens after a few minutes of tense silence.

“TODAY’S CHALLENGE IS A QUIET CONTEST. THE FIRST TEAM TO TALK IS UP FOR ELIMINATION. GO!”

heptagon and parallelogram found it easy enough to stay quiet; they had nothing to talk about. the two sat still, with heptagon staring at parallelogram, as he often did. parallelogram was looking over at group two.

square and triangle were dead silent. neither had moved an inch since rectangle’s sudden elimination.

droplet walked over to star and sat next to him; she furrowed her brow and curled her legs up. star took a brief glance at her and looked away.

everything’s fine, he thought. droplet’s fine.

the members of helvetica were already condensed in a little group, and they were all busy thinking about the previous night’s misadventures. hexagon was miming the chords she had played on her ukulele.

“UGH, THIS IS SO BORING,” möbius groaned. “CAN YOU ALL PUT A LITTLE MORE LIFE IN YOUR SILENCE?”

“i can talk to you if you want,” origin suggested. “it’s good that they’re taking the challenge seriously.”

“sure, but i want ENTERTAINMENT! INTRIGUE!! DRAMA!!!”

“well, you did decide to host a reality show of all things. i guess i shouldn’t be too surprised…”

“whatever. what do you have to talk about?”

“well… the contestants in the paradox are doing quite well, sir. they don’t mind it there at all, i’d say.”

“good. how have they thought of the latest… happenings?”

“oh, in the challenges? they’ve found everything very… interesting to watch.”

“i see.”

origin glowed a bit. “they’ve started to form a little family in there. they are really getting along well!”

“darn…” möbius muttered.

“what?”

“nothing…”

“i think rectangle’s gonna do fine there, even if it takes a little while for him to settle. he’ll get to reunite with his friend circle, after all.”

“yeah, okay. whatever.” möbius clearly did not want to talk about this any further.

droplet was still curled up. star closed his eyes.

she never said anything was upsetting her today, so there’s nothing upsetting her. droplet’s fine, star. she’s fine. don’t worry over nothing.

then he felt shuddering. his eyes sprang open and he looked over to see droplet crying.

this isn’t nothing.

star looked at her and patted droplet’s hand. she looked up at him, her eyes shiny with tears. he smiled slightly at her, and she smiled slightly back; her smile quickly fell away into a frown. star continued to pat her hand…

“THIS IS INFURIATING!” möbius yelled. “I’M LEAVING. TWINKLE, KEEP AN EYE ON THE CONTESTANTS AND TELL ME WHO LOSES.”

“on it, sir!”

and with that, möbius left.

heptagon continued to stare at parallelogram.

parallelogram had been looking at the other teams, when he finally turned back to notice heptagon’s gawking.

he opened his mouth to yell when heptagon hit him in the face.

parallelogram blinked in shock and indignation, but softened. he smiled sheepishly.

“golly, you all are very good at this,” origin said. “hm…” he approached triangle and square. “hey, are you two okay?”

neither responded; neither even acknowledged origin’s presence.

“okay, i don’t really know what i was expecting…”

hexagon waved to origin; he came over.

“yes?”

hexagon pointed to her ukulele and shrugged.

“oh, i guess you’re allowed to play that. it isn’t talking or anything.”

hexagon smiled, gave him a thumbs up, and strummed.

she began to play the chords to the cookie criminal song, and her teammates nodded along, grinning.

“for if you did you’d see that i have had a bite to eat~!” octagon sang with a chuckle. pentagon laughed as well.

“AAAAAND HELVETICA LOSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” möbius yelled, reappearing.

octagon’s breath caught. “...oh my primes. no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO–”

now one of them was going to be eliminated. now helvetica was going to lose somebody.

“let’s–” hexagon started in a strained voice, “let’s go back to the cabin.”

trapezoid took her hand and pentagon’s. “octagon… are you coming?”

but octagon said nothing.

the other three left without her.

heptagon was about to go back to his team cabin as well, when parallelogram said his name.

“hey, heptagon. thanks for hitting me back there… we almost lost cuz of me.”

heptagon’s eyes were teary. “o-of course.”

“but geez, dude! you gotta stop looking at me like that…”

star and droplet stood up.

“i see something’s been getting you down,” star murmured.

droplet sighed. “i just miss heart and rhombus…”

“me too… well, the competition won’t last forever. we’ll see them at some point.”

droplet smiled. “i guess you’re right. thanks, star.”

origin returned to triangle and square. “well, now that you two are allowed to talk… are you okay?”

square shook himself and stared at origin. “what do you think? my brother’s gone.”

“i’m sure he’s fine. he’s with your friend circle after all–”

“SHUT UP ABOUT CIRCLE!” triangle yelled. “i know i’ve been horrible, you don’t have to rub it in!”

and with that she stormed off.

…

“hey, circle…”

“hey, rectangle.”

it had been a while since the two friends had seen each other. or had it? it had only been a few days, and yet it felt like forever…

“sorry about your elimination,” circle continued. “i know you really wanted to win.”

“yeah… but square thought this whole show was so terrible that he was willing to risk everything for the chance to be eliminated…”

“well…” kite pointed out, “this show has caused some… undue tension, to say the least.”

i guess she’s right, rectangle thought. because of this show i’ve argued with triangle practically every day, not to mention square – i never used to fight with square.

“but that tension can’t just come out of nowhere,” oval noted. “can it?”

“it certainly d-didn’t with star and i,” heart said. “our problems had been going on for years, it’s just that they only came to a head because of the show.”

“so what, are you saying that our friendship was never meant to last?” rectangle countered. “were we doomed from the start to end up hating each other?”

circle winced. “let’s just watch the challenge, okay?”

they proceeded to find it incredibly boring. möbius wasn’t wrong about everything…

“helvetica’s gonna mess up, aren’t they,” rhombus muttered. “they always look like they’re about to laugh.”

“i kinda hope they don’t,” heart murmured. “it’s comforting having the one team whose members don’t constantly scream at each other.”

“it’s bound to happen eventually.”

rectangle sighed as the camera panned over to square and triangle, who were frozen still in horror. should i take pride in the fact that they care more about my elimination than circle’s?

he glanced over at circle, who was frowning.

no. no i shouldn’t.

“heptagon seems very keen on not losing all of a sudden,” oval pointed out. “funny.”

“well, that’s kind of my fault,” kite said. “i’m just glad parry’s taking it as well as he is.”

“they’re all changing in one way or another.”

eventually, as rhombus predicted, helvetica lost.

“i know i’ve been wrong about a lot of things but sometimes being touchy-feely does genuinely make you more likely to lose,” rhombus said.

“and often the opposite is true,” rectangle muttered bitterly.

origin soon reappeared. “everyone’s favorite team finally lost… i’ll be sad to bring any of them here tomorrow.”

“just tell möbius there isn’t enough room in here,” oval suggested. “then you won’t have to.”

“but there’s always enough room in here! this place goes on forever!!!”

“darn.”

“even the one good team has gone sour…” kite said. “i feel like there really is something wrong here.”

“or something wrong with all of us,” heart mumbled.

“it’s a competition show!” origin said. “you shouldn’t feel bad about wanting to win or not wanting to win or whatever. that’s just how it goes.”

“but if it turns us into volatile, impulsive, over-competitive jerks?” rectangle cried. “or cold, mean, self-centered ones? is that ‘just how it goes’?”

“listen, rectangle–”

“i’m happy helvetica lost, because it shows that they actually enjoy each other’s company! i’m happy somebody here has the guts to actually be friends with people instead of treating them like garbage!”

“but what’s gonna happen now?” rhombus countered. “are the members of helvetica still gonna care about each other that much after this? after octagon made one of them get eliminated? they want to win, rectangle. there’s nothing immaculate about that.”

“so we should just accept it then? that this challenge is corrupting all of us? that being wronged by our friends because of a silly competition is normal and okay and great? is it always gonna end like this, where we all want each other dead?”

“ENOUGH!” circle yelled and sighed. “...listen. friendships end sometimes, but they don’t always have to. they certainly don’t have to end like this. triangle and square don’t have to be jerks. it’s their choice how they treat us. we weren’t wrong to be friends with them.”

“then what’s going to happen to helvetica?”

“i don’t know. it’s up to them to decide.”

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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geometropolis · 2 years ago

Text

grt3D episode 7: mathematicakes

“you really should be asleep, y’know,” star murmured.

“i know,” droplet replied. “i can’t sleep though.”

the two shapes were sitting just outside their cabin. the night was dark and a gentle breeze was blowing. the faint rustle of leaves could be heard through the otherwise still silence.

“hm…” star blinked his half-lidded eyes. “hey, i never told you about what happened with me and heart, did i?”

droplet didn’t reply, just looked at him.

“you deserve to know, you know.”

“really? i haven’t done anything to help this team…”

star scoffed. “that is soooo not true. but even if it were, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a part of it.”

“...thanks.”

“right…” star took a deep breath. “y’know, i’m still shocked about it myself. i should’ve seen this whole thing coming, but i didn’t. even if heart would tell me about whatever he was worried about, he never called me out for not listening… but i guess i should’ve seen that myself.”

“so he finally got mad?”

“yeah… i mean, he had every right to be mad. now that i’m thinking about it, i’ve always done this. i’ve always told him to stop worrying and just, y’know, relax with me. that’s why i wanted us to sign up for this show, so we can just have fun together like we used to.”

droplet smiled. “well, you just want him to smile and be happy!”

“well yeah! i love the guy… but y’know, i can’t just turn his frown upside down without knowing why he’s frowning, right?”

“right…”

“i hope he’s doing okay in the paradox. he was so afraid of what it’d be like there.”

“another one of us is going there this morning,” droplet said slowly. “thanks to me…”

“droplet…”

“thanks for talking to me.” she stood up. “i need to go to bed now.”

with that, droplet went inside and went to bed. rhombus was sitting on their own bed, messing with their weird remote like usual. as droplet passed, they didn’t look up.

…

“HELLOOOOOOO MORTALS!!!!” möbius strip called. “WE’RE BACK TO EARLY RISING!!!!!!!”

the shapes dragged themselves in their fatigued stupor to the usual spot in the field; just like the morning before, origin was actually present.

“time for the elimination?” star asked.

“YUP. THE COOL KIDS WILL BE MUCH COOLER TODAY… AS THE ELIMINATED CONTESTANT IS THE NERD!! HA!!!”

“you mean rhombus, right, sir?” origin asked.

“DUHOY.”

rhombus didn’t even bother to look at droplet; they just glared at star. “you know what?” they started. “i don’t blame droplet for this. i blame you, star, for trusting her and her stupid idea. that ruined it for me.”

star furrowed his brow. “i admit, i’ve done my fair share of damage. but if being genuinely nice to people for the first time in my life is wrong? i don’t want to be right.”

“...you’re not gonna last long.”

“i’ve lasted longer than you. tcch, say hi to heart for me…”

origin started buzzing; as rhombus’s limbs disappeared, they dropped their remote.

droplet sighed.

“OKAY, WE CAN’T START THE CHALLENGE UNTIL TWINKLE COMES BACK,” möbius explained, “BUT I CAN AT LEAST EXPLAIN IT TO YOU.”

“please do!” rectangle exclaimed.

“TODAY’S CHALLENGE WILL BE A BAKE-OFF: YOU’LL ALL GET PLENTY OF NUMBERS AND OPERATIONS – USE THEM TO MAKE A DELICIOUS MATHEMATICAKE FOR ME TO JUDGE. YOU’LL HAVE AROUND AN HOUR AND A HALF TO FINISH.”

“aw man,” rectangle grumbled. “i suck at baking.”

“yes!” hexagon exclaimed. “i love baking!” she turned to her teammates. “is it fine if i lead this challenge?”

“oh, definitely,” octagon said. pentagon nodded.

trapezoid paused. he also loved baking.

but she should get a chance to shine, he thought. “of course!” he smiled.

origin soon reappeared. “you needed those numbers and operations, right sir?”

“YESIREE!”

origin glowed for a moment, and soon hundreds of symbols came flying out from his side. “you can use these to make your lovely desserts – and there should be an equal sign per team too, right?”

“YES INDEED! IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, ONCE YOU’RE DONE ADDING EVERYTHING, YOU NEED TO PUT IT THROUGH THE EQUAL SIGN TO BAKE. I DON’T WANT ANY RAW NUMBERS.”

“ohhhhh,” square gasped. “that’s why rectangle’s homemade mathematicookies always taste so bad! they’re raw.”

“shut up,” rectangle muttered.

“OKAY… GO! …and twinkle, can you come here for a sec?”

“welp,” parallelogram said to himself as he headed over to pick up ingredients, “i guess it’s just me and me.”

“i’m right here,” heptagon cut in.

“just leave me be.”

“i want to help!”

“do you really?”

“please, parallelogram.” for once, heptagon’s voice was riddled with emotion. “please just let me help you.”

parallelogram regarded him with shock. “fine, whatever,” he muttered. “if you insist… here, carry some of these.” he handed heptagon a few of the numbers while he carried the rest. “i don’t want to give you too much to mess up…”

“so, what do you think we should bake?” star asked droplet. “a double-decker even mathematicake? a multicolor exponential?”

“it doesn’t matter what i think… i’ll just mess it up…”

star clicked his tongue. “okay, well, then i guess i’ll take the lead. i’ll tell you what to do, okay?”

“fine, sure, whatever…” her mind was clearly elsewhere.

“so first we’ll need a pi, and a couple sine functions…”

meanwhile, hexagon was leading her own team. “okay gang, so how do you all want to help? i already have a recipe in mind.”

“i can be your baking assistant!” pentagon suggested.

“me too!” said octagon.

“how about you, trapezoid?” hexagon asked.

i want to be her baking assistant as well, he thought, but i don’t wanna step on her toes…

“i can just do prep and clean up,” he said.

“okay!” she faced the rest of the team. “so i wanna make a triple-triple-three mathematicake! it’s one of my personal favorites.”

“will we need a lot of 3s?” pentagon asked.

“oh yeah, for sure. you have three layers, each with three 3s. that’s…”

“nine threes in all,” octagon finished.

“right. and we’ll need a whole bunch of parentheses and plus signs as well…”

“it’s only addition… then why do you need parentheses? it’s commutative anyway.”

“that’s the funny thing about baking,” hexagon said. “even if in regular math you can end up with the same result in a billion different ways, in this kind of math it’s the process that makes the biggest difference.”

“so the parentheses separate out each layer,” trapezoid continued. “for this type of cake, the overall contents would be the same without them, but you’d just get one really tall cake. there’s aesthetic value in splitting the cake in layers, which is why we add them.”

“hey, that’s right! have you baked before, trapezoid?”

“what? oh, um… no…!” trapezoid quickly went away to get the ingredients.

“twinkle,” möbius said, “could you please keep your camera on group two?”

“huh? why?”

“listen. i know you’re broadcasting the show to the eliminated contestants. i want them to see this.”

group two, like always, was arguing.

“square’s right for once,” triangle said. “you suck at baking, rectangle. let me do it.”

“hey, you’ve never even baked once in your life!” he countered. “even if my baking is bad, at least i’ve done it before! let me do it!”

“i’m gonna do it.”

“no, i’m gonna!”

“for primes’ sake!” square snapped. “can you two just cut it out for one second? you’re driving me insane!”

“i’m gonna make my own cake.”

“fine, me too!”

square rolled his eyes. we’re definitely gonna lose as it is, he mentally noted. still wouldn’t hurt to have a little secret self-sabotage down the line… anything to make sure i can get away from these two.

“you want them to see group two fighting for the billionth time?” origin asked.

“...yes,” möbius replied cryptically. “i think it’s… enriching.”

“okay…” origin replied, staying right in front of them…

at the same time, droplet was absent-mindedly handing star ingredients.

“square root symbol!” star requested, and droplet gave. “e! i! opening bracket! natural logarithm! …okay, that should be it!”

“mm,” droplet replied.

the two began to put the ingredients together. “okay, so we’ll take the natural log of pi times 37… pass me that 3, would you?”

droplet passed it to him. then she blinked and shook herself out of her thoughts. “...hey wait a sec, what in math are we doing?”

“what do you mean? we’re making a mathematicake.”

“but look at all these crazy ingredients!” she exclaimed, motioning to the bizarre operations scattered in front of them. “this cake will be terrible!”

“you sound just like rhombus,” star chuckled.

droplet paused and sighed. “well, i… sorry, i just think this idea might be a little too…”

“a little too out there?”

“yeah…”

“wanna help me workshop it?”

“...what does that mean?”

“well,” star explained, “we’ll talk about the idea – what works, what doesn’t – and we’ll make whatever changes we need, and then it’ll be better!”

“so you can make your idea work?”

“so we can make it work.” he smiled. “together.”

parallelogram held a few numbers in his hands and shrugged. “i’ll be honest; i remember the ingredients for two-ten mathematicake but i do not remember the method.”

“i might know how,” heptagon said nervously.

parallelogram raised an eyebrow.

“i know it has 10 thin layers, each with a different power of two. i know we should use parentheses to separate the layers, each pair of parentheses containing 2 and an exponent.”

“...huh…”

heptagon bit his lip. will he listen?

“...i guess that makes sense,” parallelogram concluded.

heptagon exhaled. thank the primes.

“i’ll go get some more 2s, i’ll be right back. don’t mess anything up while i’m gone.”

möbius had long since moved on, so origin decided to move along himself, leaving group two’s drama behind him.

good progress was being made on helvetica’s triple-triple-three mathematicake: trapezoid got the ingredients, and hexagon was leading octagon and pentagon in combining them the right way. “remember pemdas!” she sang. “it’s all about the process.”

octagon put a 3 in a pair of parentheses. “i love baking!” she said. “it’s so orderly!”

pentagon put a plus sign next to it. “and i love baking because you get to throw a bunch of stuff together and make something yummy!”

octagon put another 3. “only if it’s in the right order.”

“right…”

“good work, everyone!” hexagon beamed. “you’re doing great. just tell trapezoid when you’re ready for the next pair of parentheses.”

“got it!”

trapezoid translated over to hexagon. “you’re great at this!” he exclaimed. “just a few minutes ago they had no idea how to bake at all, and now they’re experts!”

“just playing my part!”

trapezoid soon handed pentagon and octagon another pair of parentheses. “don’t forget to put a plus sign after the first pair before you put this one down.”

“oh, right!” hexagon piped up. “i almost forgot that part! thanks, bud… hey, you seem to know a lot about baking. why didn’t you want to help?”

trapezoid sighed. “well… you said you liked to bake, and i wanted to let you have your moment. i would’ve just… stepped all over you.”

“aw, i appreciate it… but you don’t have to do that for me. i want you to shine as well! …how about we lead together?”

hexagon smiled at him and he couldn’t help but smile back. “sounds good to me.”

droplet blinked at star. “so irrational numbers add flavor?”

“yeah,” he said. “they give the cake a certain… spice.”

“i guess the square root symbols make sense then… but i think maybe it’s a bit too complicated with logarithms and exponents too?”

“do you think the flavors would clash?”

“yeah.”

“maybe we should simplify things then… how about each layer has the square root of two plus pi?”

droplet nodded. “sounds good! and we can add an additional pi to the end of everything for that last little pop.”

the cool kids were the last to know what they were doing, but their idea was the most unique; the two quickly got started putting things together.

rectangle and triangle were busy making their own individual mathematicakes; neither knew any recipes, but at the very least rectangle knew how it was supposed to work. triangle just threw down a bunch of numbers and symbols.

if there’s anything square knew about baking, though, it’s that adding a single additional 1 to the end of a recipe completely changes it. he grabbed two 1s and two plus signs and started sneaking towards his team’s equal sign.

“TIME’S RUNNING OUT, FOLKS!” möbius proclaimed. “TIME TO START PUTTING THINGS THROUGH THE EQUAL SIGN.”

helvetica was the first to start baking their cake, with trapezoid explaining the proper way to put it in the equal sign and for how long.

parallelogram had been closely monitoring heptagon as he put the numbers and operations together; heptagon seemed to know what he was doing, but parallelogram was still dubious…

heptagon soon put it in to bake.

“hm, it actually does smell nice,” parallelogram noted. heptagon smiled.

triangle and rectangle headed over to their equal sign, glowering at each other, where square was waiting. “i’ll put your cakes in for you,” he told them. before they could respond he took their cakes and put them through – not before sneaking in a +1 to each.

the cool kids were the last to put their cake in; droplet and star high-fived after doing so.

“we did it!” star cheered. “this cake is gonna be great!”

“i hope so…”

“and thanks for your help! it really meant a lot.”

droplet smiled.

“OKEY DOKEY!!!” möbius boomed. “LET’S SEE IF YOUR CAKES HAVE WHAT IT TAKES!!!!!”

first helvetica presented theirs. möbius strip approached it and the cake seemed to noclip out of reality.

“THIS IS DELICIOUS! I WANT TO EAT IT AGAIN!”

origin buzzed and the cake appeared again. möbius touched it again, and it vanished like before.

“9/10 FOR HELVETICA! YUMMYYYY!!!!!!”

“yes!” hexagon smiled. “awesome job, everyone! especially you, trapezoid.”

trapezoid smiled back. “especially you, hexagon.”

“too bad we didn’t get to eat it…” pentagon mumbled.

next up was yim yum. möbius touched the cake.

“OH NICE. THIS IS GREAT CAKE. A CLASSIC! 7/10.”

“oh wow, that’s pretty good!” parallelogram was taken aback. he hadn’t expected heptagon to actually do well.

he made eye contact with heptagon. and for a moment, he smiled.

then the cool kids. like before, möbius approached their cake and made it glitch out of existence.

nothing.

“uh… möbius strip?” star asked uneasily.

“THIS IS THE BEST MATHEMATICAKE I HAVE EVER EATEN!!!!!!!!!!!” möbius strip screamed. “THE FLAVOR, THE AROMA, OH, I JUST WANT TO EAT IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND A–”

“that’s enough cake for you, sir,” origin butted in.

“YES!!! 100000000/10!!!!!! THE COOL KIDS WIN AT CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“woohoo!!!!!” star hooted. “we did it, droplet! we made my stupid idea work!”

droplet laughed, then paused. “hey, was this all meant to teach me a lesson about how being imaginative is great but that it can only work when grounded in reality?”

star blinked. “huh?”

“NOW TIME FOR THE LAST CAKE OF THE DAY…”

triangle and rectangle brought up their cakes.

“I SEE YOU HAVE TWO CAKES!”

“uhh, yes,” rectangle said. “that’s a… a good thing!”

“yeah!” triangle affirmed, knocking into him. “two cakes for the price of one! you should give us double points.”

“don’t push it.”

“LET ME TRY YOURS FIRST, TRIANGLE…” möbius made it disappear. “THIS IS… THIS IS GOOD! THE FLAVOR SEEMS SO… IT SEEMS SO GARBLED AND BAD AT FIRST, BUT THERE’S THIS SINGLE UNIFYING TANG AT THE END THAT TIES IT ALL TOGETHER! WOW!”

square groaned. no, i accidentally made her cake better! darn!

triangle put her hands on her hips. “what’d i say, tango? i’m simply better than you at this.”

“he hasn’t even tasted mine yet!” rectangle protested.

“OH, YES!” möbius exclaimed. he touched rectangle’s cake and it vanished. “MMM, GOOD… HEY, EEUGH!!! WHAT’S THAT DISGUSTING AFTERTASTE??? THAT’S THE WORST THING I’VE EVER TASTED IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!”

rectangle was shocked. “w-what?”

square glanced at him.

“YOU KNOW WHAT? TRIANGLE’S CAKE WOULD’VE BEEN A 5/10; THIS ONE IS A -5! FOR A TOTAL SCORE OF 0/10, YOU GOSH DARN IMBECILES!!! IF THESE RECIPES WERE COMBINED MAYBE THIS WOULD’VE BEEN A CAKE THAT WAS EDIBLE FROM START TO FINISH!!!! GOOD DAY!!!!!!!”

möbius was so offended by the horrible cake that he left.

“um…” origin started awkwardly, “group two, you um, lost, by the way…” he then left as quickly as his boss.

rectangle’s brows knitted. “ugh, it… it’s all my fault…” he looked at triangle. “it’s all because of this dumb fight i started with you. if we’d have worked together, we would’ve had a decent cake…”

“you’re right,” triangle snapped. “you should’ve just let me take the lead, like always.”

rectangle sighed.

“don’t blame yourself,” square told his brother. “it was probably just… a little something that accidentally got into your cake. it totally would’ve been fine otherwise.”

“what are you talking about?”

square bit his lip.

“square! that was you, wasn’t it?” triangle pointed at him. “you keep trying to sabotage our team!”

“this again?” rectangle gasped. “you said you’d stop!”

“hey, hey, i never promised anything,” square said defensively. “and this is for your own good, rectangle. you want to win; i don’t. we lose, i get out, and you have a higher chance of winning!”

“i don’t want you to get out, square! neither of us do!”

“i’m sure triangle wants me gone,” square retorted, “don’t you, triangle?”

triangle didn’t respond.

“and weren’t you mad at me yourself, rectangle? why do you want me to stay?”

“because you’re my brother!”

square stopped talking.

…

the empty white grid was filled with voices echoing out from its center –

“hey, how are you?”

“check this out!”

“i just miss them, okay?”

“still think my team’s gonna win.”

“darn, that sucks!”

– and rhombus did not enjoy it one bit.

“kite, how do you stand it here?” they asked.

“what do you mean?” their cousin replied. “it’s pretty chill.”

“everyone’s either screaming or crying or talking about something completely insignificant. it’s driving me crazy!”

“sorry not everyone’s as above-it-all as you are, rhombus. this… this is nice.”

“they’re all just distracting themselves. i say we try and find a way to escape this place so we can–”

“did you even say hello to heart yet?”

rhombus was taken aback.

“okay, folks, gather round,” circle called over his fellow eliminated contestants.

“what’s it gonna be this time?” heart asked. rhombus was surprised – he seemed so… calm.

“i bet it’s gonna be a baking challenge,” kite teased, nudging oval.

“what! i love baking!” oval cried. “don’t you jinx it–”

“TODAY’S CHALLENGE WILL BE A BAKE-OFF…”

“noooooooooooooo!!!! how dare he do that without me!!!!!!”

the other shapes laughed, heart among them.

eventually, they were subjected to watching triangle and rectangle fight. for the billionth time.

“i want to punch them both in the face so bad,” circle groaned. “they used to be so close!”

“well, y’know what they say,” heart noted morosely, “keep your enemies closer…”

“it’s like… they turned the dial on friendship so far that it circled around and became animosity,” kite suggested.

“darn,” circle said. “sounds about right…”

“that’s just what this competition has been doing to people, i guess…”

the broadcast lingered on group two for an uncomfortably long time before moving on.

they saw helvetica succeed. they saw parallelogram accept heptagon’s help – even if begrudgingly. they saw star and droplet make an awesomely stupid and stupidly awesome cake.

“y’know, i still don’t forgive star for what he did to me,” heart murmured, “because he hasn’t been able to apologize yet. but i know i will forgive him someday.”

rhombus lingered near him, uneasy. they didn’t know what to say… they didn’t even know what to think. and rhombus always knew what to think.

“oh, hey rhombus!” heart moved towards them. “it’s been a while since we’ve properly t-talked…”

rhombus paused. “...i don’t think we’ve ever properly talked. i don’t think i’ve ever properly talked to anyone.” their voice was strained and uncomfortable.

“...well, things can change! i’m not-very good at talking to other people myself, but… here we are. so let’s start over: n-nice to meet you, my name is heart, and i believe we started on the wrong foot. what’s your name?”

“my name is rhombus and i… i’m sorry.”

“for what?”

“for ruining everything.”

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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geometropolis · 1 year ago

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grt3D episode 17: paradise lost

it took several hours for möbius strip to arrive in the 3rd dimension with hexagon after departing from the 2nd. at that point, it was the next morning.

hexagon woke up in a cave. it was unlike any cave she had ever seen in her life. yes, it was angular and gray, but… it didn’t only have width. it didn’t only have height. it had depth.

it took a moment for hexagon’s eyes to adjust to her strange surroundings. she stood up and walked around. looking down, she saw her legs. they were tubes? with round nubs at the bottom? and her body… it was the same orange as always, but… thick. it’s like she was now two hexagons, with a row of squares stuck between them. her arms looked similar to her legs.

hexagon shook out her new arms and legs. she was kind of overwhelmed, given everything that had happened; she took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. her eyes were round too… and what was that little nub between them?

she looked up and saw a small hole in the ceiling. light was shining through into the cave. she looked down again and saw a möbius strip, around her size, floating in the middle of the cave right underneath the ceiling hole.

“...m-möbius strip?” she asked.

she got no answer.

curious and confused, she kneeled down and looked closer. if she squinted, hexagon could see a minuscule grid on the surface of this strip. and… were those teensy-weensy colored dots?

“is that… is that the 2nd dimension???” she was taken aback. amazed? horrified? surprised? hexagon wasn’t sure what she was feeling. she did know she was confused, however. “the entirety of our world is on this one möbius strip in this one cave? that’s crazy!”

hexagon continued to explore the cave; aside from the large cavern she and the entirety of the 2nd dimension were housed in, there was a large tunnel leading out from one side and a small one (which she would most certainly not be able to fit through) leading out from the other. taking one final look around the cavern, hexagon proceeded through the large tunnel.

but suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. “hey, wait a second… where is möbius strip?” hexagon shook herself and hurried through the tunnel until she reached the light. she was on top of a mountain – which on its own was disorienting – far above a small city. or was it a large town? it looked vaguely familiar to her.

hexagon looked up and saw a dark gray strip fluttering in the wind against a light gray sky. sky? she shook herself out of her confusion. that was möbius strip! it had to be!

“MӦBIUS STRIP!” she yelled. “WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”

he might’ve wavered for a moment, but hexagon couldn’t tell. he continued to fly off into the distance.

“great.”

she looked back at the civilization beneath her, and began to descend. it was tricky for her to maneuver her strange new limbs and strange new body around, especially in such a rocky, steep area, and especially while holding a pacifier in one hand.

“this is cool, this is awesome,” hexagon told herself as she climbed. “sure, it’s weird, and painful – ow, my foot! – and a result of horrible behavior on my part and möbius strip’s, but it’s cool! totally worth it!” she grinned and bore it.

eventually she reached the bottom, and was met with a vast, empty, gray field. “i didn’t realize this place was gonna be as gray as geometropolis! golly.”

hexagon walked through, feeling the soft ground under her feet. she saw a flash of gold in the corner of her eye. when she tilted her body to the side, she could hear faint buzzing in the distance.

“didn’t origin say something about a sister? huh.”

i’ll go check her out later, she thought. first i should see what’s happening in this city. town? city? whatever.

the orange polyhedron continued onward until she reached some tall, gray buildings. she wandered past them, looking up with wide eyes at the skyline. suddenly she bumped into somebody.

from the sides, this shape looked like an upside-down triangle. but they had a square on top.

“oh!” they yelped. “sorry!”

hexagon gasped. “golly! i should be the one apologizing, i wasn’t looking where i was going. sorry about that!”

“no worries!” this shape had a tired face, but kind eyes. “hey, i don’t think i’ve seen someone like you in town before. are you new here?”

“oh, me?” hexagon blinked. “yeah, i am. say, could you tell me where i am?”

“you’re in geometropolis, my friend. that over there is the logarithm labyrinth, and…”

hexagon’s eyes widened.

“...hey, are you okay…?”

hexagon shook herself. “yup! totally fine!!”

the shape smiled. “okay. well, my name is tr–” they paused. “my name is pyramid. what’s yours?”

“my name is… hexagon…?” her voice trailed off.

“hexagonal prism? i could’ve guessed! …say, hexagonal prism, you didn’t happen to see a gray strip flying through the sky as you arrived, did you?”

hexagon knitted her brow slightly. “why yes, i did.”

pyramid suddenly looked very tense.

“...hey, are you okay?” hexagon asked, concerned and confused.

pyramid laughed. nervously? sadly? “yeah, i’m fine. well then, hexagonal prism, i guess i’ll see you around. hope you enjoy your time here!” then they muttered under their breath, “unlike the rest of us…”

hexagon smiled at this friendly stranger and walked on. at least the people here are nice, she thought. say, i’m starving.

she nervously patted herself and found her wallet. hexagon sighed in relief. she tended to keep a lot of digits on hand, so she could go and get a hotel room and some food.

hexagon continued down the sidewalk, skipping over the cracks. it was still early, so not many people were out and about, but those who were seemed amused by her energy.

these buildings are all so familiar, hexagon thought to herself. i don’t recognize any of them, but… they’re all situated in the same way as home. drugstore, cafe, little bench, tree…

eventually hexagon found a little hotel (in the same spot there was one in the 2nd dimension!) and booked a room. this business having been dealt with, hexagon went back out into the world and decided to look for someplace to eat. she was about to walk on autopilot, but she stopped herself.

don’t just rely on your memory of home! she thought to herself. if i’ve never been here, i shouldn’t already have a map… i’m just gonna wander around for a while and only stop to eat once my strange new feet are tired.

having resigned herself to this task, hexagon ignored her plaintive stomach. she was hungry – not only for food, but also for something beyond the life she used to live.

look at this place, she thought to herself, it’s so much better than home. it’s so much livelier! …sure, it might seem exactly the same, but it’s not. it’s different. it’s a whole other dimension, for primes’ sake! the people here are nice and the sights are beautiful… unlike home. the only sights i got were a computer screen from 9 to 5. goodness gracious, i didn’t do the absolute most throughout school only to get an office job where i get yelled at by customers 24/7. it’s not that i’m more special than everyone else… i just think, well, since i aimed higher, that i should’ve ended up higher. i dunno. i must sound really conceited… heck, hexagon, this is your own brain! nobody’s here to tell you if you’re conceited! maybe i am special! but it doesn’t matter… nobody wants a job like that. all my co-workers hated it. at least i was able to grin and bear it – didn’t one of them get fired for yelling back at a customer? hm… i’m lucky to be here. i’m really, really gosh darn lucky. i was so sick of the 2nd dimension. this is a primesend. i really, truly hate möbius strip, but this is a primesend.

as hexagon walked, she passed sights she would’ve recognized if she hadn’t chosen to not think of home. an apartment building, a high school, several more apartment buildings… hey, that looks like my old doctor’s office! no, it doesn’t. keep walking.

she ended up finding a park with a small pond. hexagon stood by the edge of the water and looked at her reflection. “i look weird,” she muttered, “but in a good way! …i hope.”

she bent down and picked up a small stone. sticking out her tongue, she threw it, and it skipped along the surface of the water 8 times. hexagon smiled slightly. skipping stones was one of the only interesting things she got to do back in the 2nd dimension. it was only that, and…

“my ukulele!” she gasped. “aw man, that’s still in our cabin. i’ll have to make sure to get it once i get back home…”

hexagon gazed out over the water, at the clouds reflected on its surface. she looked up at the real thing, the puffs of light gray drifting across the sky.

“if i don’t know where möbius strip is, how will i get back home? will i ever get back home?” she paused and stood up. “well, i couldn’t care less if i don’t! i like it here! i could live here for the rest of my life if i had to! i’ll get a job i like and do something good with myself! it’s what i was born to do!”

she pumped her fist into the sky – but, in doing so, dropped the pacifier she had been holding.

hexagon picked it up and dusted it off, but averted her eyes. “if i stay here, though, i’ll never be able to give this back to her…” her phrasing skirted the name of the item and the person to whom it belonged.

at this point hexagon continued on her walk. y’know, she thought, i’m almost surprised that i don’t miss home. you tend to hear about these things, about people leaving home and then missing it. but was geometropolis ever really home at all? …don’t say that. there are people there you know and love. pentagon? trapezoid? …octagon? i still love her. i still love all of them. but i don’t miss the 2nd dimension, just the people in it. golly, i wonder if i could get them all to move here…

hexagon skipped and spun around. this is freedom! i’d do anything to show them what it’s like here…

or do they already know?

no! no, they don’t! there’s a whole other axis here! i can’t seriously think there’s nothing beautiful and profound to learn by being here as opposed to the 2nd dimension!

hexagon shook herself. eventually she came upon a little deli. i might as well get something to eat now. i’ve been walking long enough!

she opened the door, causing a little bell on the doorpost to jingle.

“my first customer of the day!” the shape at the counter exclaimed, chuckling. they were round on top but flat on the bottom. “what can i getcha?”

hexagon smiled and looked up at the menu, which was posted on big panels over the counter. “i’ll have one toasted base-10 bagel, please, with cream cheese and lox.”

“that’ll be 1.5 digits, my dear!”

she paid them and soon had her bagel. “thank you!” she said as she left.

hexagon stood outside the deli. yeah, there’s a deli back at home. and in a block… she crossed the street. there’s a nice bench to sit on.

the orange polyhedron sat down and ate her breakfast. at this point, more folks were out on the town. she watched a couple enter the deli and heard the little chime of the bell.

it was a delicious base-10 bagel! just like the ones back home… hexagon gazed off into the distance. her mind was full, but not with easily discernible thoughts. there were just feelings drifting around in her head, bouncing around languidly (and never quite hitting the corners). for some reason, not that she knew why, hexagon began to tear up.

at first nobody noticed. it was that time of morning when everybody’s rushing to work, so she couldn’t blame them.

then a little shape came up to her, completely round.

“sir and/or ma’am?”

hexagon blinked in surprise and swallowed her bite of bagel. a little kid was staring at her.

“sir and/or ma’am? are you okay?” the kid asked.

hexagon wiped her eyes. “yeah, i’m okay. this is just a really good bagel.”

“did you get it from the deli? i’ve never had one before.”

“you should!”

“okay. will it make me cry?”

“it might.”

the kid paused. “okay.”

the little sphere left without saying goodbye, but their smile was enough. hexagon took a deep breath. you’re okay. you’re okay.

hexagon threw out the wax paper in which she had been holding the base-10 bagel and started back for the hotel. at this point, as she had recognized the position of the deli in 2D geometropolis, she could make her way back to the hotel in the 3rd dimension without a hitch.

her walking speed was much more brisk now, and she passed swaths of people without even noticing them. within a few minutes hexagon had arrived back at the hotel.

she checked into her room and flumped down on the bed, exhausted from walking. she crept under the covers and closed her eyes…

she was back in the cave in the logarithm labyrinth, staring at the 2nd dimension.

“do you like it here?” a voice asked. “i hope you like it here.”

“...wh-who is that?” hexagon turned around.

“who do you want me to be?”

hexagon blinked and looked back at the 2nd dimension.

“your world looks just like me. isn’t that odd?”

“möbius strip…” hexagon growled. “when will i go back home?”

“home? HOME?” möbius laughed. “there’s no such thing. why else would you be here?”

hexagon looked in her hands. she was holding a pacifier. “i need to go home. i need to give this back.”

“to whom?”

hexagon bit her lip.

“you can pretend like you’re above it all, but you’re not. you just don’t want to feel guilty. don’t worry, i can assure you that you’ve done nothing wrong. why, i would do the same as you.”

“what ARE you up to? did you really know i was gonna win from the beginning of race to the 3rd dimension?”

“maybe, maybe not.”

“and why did you get such a kick out of seeing us all fight?”

“it’s funny because it’s true, hexagon. it’s the truest thing of all.”

“...who are you?”

“i could ask you the same thing. satan? god? what’s the real difference, anyway? both have power. both kill for more.”

“get out of my head.”

“i was never in it.”

“what?”

hexagon woke up in a cold sweat after napping for several hours. at some point in her sleep, she had begun to chew on the pacifier. she took it out of her mouth and gazed at it.

“what do you want, hexagon?” she asked herself. “a new life? or a good one?”

she shook herself and got out of bed. “what do i even want to do today? if this place is exactly like home, i know there’s nothing interesting for me to do. at the very least, there’s nothing to do so long as i’m a stranger…”

hexagon paced around her hotel room; there were a couple of arm chairs, a dresser, a tv, a radio, an empty picture frame… she shook away anything she was reminded of.

she grabbed the tv remote and sat on the edge of the bed.

“just like yesterday, today in geometropolis is warm and calm,” the shape on tv announced. “mid 60s, no precipitation, low winds. hope you all have something fun to do… heh.”

hexagon picked up the tv menu. there didn’t seem to be anything interesting on. she flipped to one of those channels that’s almost entirely infomercials.

“but wait, there’s more!” a voice on tv yelled desperately. “if you call now, we’ll double your order of side straighteners, and include a free angle-o-tron! a 40 digit value, for the low, low price of 19.99! call now!!!!”

hexagon rubbed her hand on one of her edges and smiled wryly. “i think i’ll pass up this offer…”

she stood up and began to make some tau tea at the tiny kitchenette. 6.28318530717958647… hexagon dropped each number into her cup of boiling water; the more she added, the stronger the flavor.

hexagon tried to take a sip, steam billowing against her face, but she burnt her tongue. she set the cup down and waved her hand over it, wanting it to cool down. she clicked her tongue as she waited.

she took another sip.

“DO YOU WANT TO GO TO THE SECOND DIMENSION?”

hexagon spit out her mouthful of tau tea.

“DO YOU WANT TO… SEE YOUR LOVED ONES AGAIN?”

she rushed over to the tv.

“THEN JOIN THE COMPETITION! CALL THE NUMBER ON-SCREEN NOW! WITH A SMALL SIGN-UP FEE OF ONLY 100 DIGITS, YOU HAVE YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO TAKE YOUR LIFE BACK! by signing up you agree to stay on show premises for the full allotted time of 5 days.”

“...he’s not taking me back,” hexagon murmured. she absently picked up the phone. then she froze, realizing what she was doing. what möbius was doing.

he just wants more money out of me, she thought. 100 digits? geez louise… he’s holding me hostage and forcing me to pay my own ransom… but won’t there be other contestants? who here would wanna go to the 2nd dimension?

anyway, if i like it here, why should i participate? …but DO i even like it here? or am i just telling myself that? …either way, if i do enter, i’d just be giving möbius what he wants… more digits… and i might not even win…

hexagon held the phone in one hand, pacifier in the other. she stared at the latter intently… and dialed 123-456-7890.

she entered. she paid. she gave in.

i’m nothing without helvetica. i need to go home.

hexagon stood by the window and continued to hold the phone long after the shape on the other end hung up. she subconsciously began to hum the tune to that little song she and octagon had made up; when realizing this, she teared up a little.

“hello?” she said to herself, pretending she was talking on the phone. “octagon? yes, it’s me, hexagon. i’m sorry for everything. i promise that i was friends with you. i promise that i miss you. i promise that i love you. i have your pacifier here with me. when i get home, i’ll give it to you. what? what about home? oh… it’s with all of you…”

she paused and laughed a hollow laugh. “i’m going insane, talking to nobody over the phone…”

“you all mean so much to me,” hexagon continued, ignoring that thought. “i thought i would achieve my dream by coming here, but something seems wrong. without you, without trapezoid, without pentagon… this place is just like geometropolis, but it doesn’t have you in it. it isn’t home. it doesn’t feel like it…”

she looked out at the horizon. the sky was dimming. “just like my geometropolis, this geometropolis is gray and placid and calm. it’s all math. it’s all peaceful. and there are shapes here. wonderful, colorful shapes. perhaps i could get to know them… but i already know you. you are the color in my dull life. it’s strange to be without you.”

hexagon put the pacifier back in her mouth and smiled. “i’m keeping your pacifier safe. i hope you do the same with my ukulele.”

she furrowed her brow defiantly. “i’ll be coming to get it soon.”

…

“i already miss hep,” parallelogram sighed.

kite chuckled. “and you already have a nickname for him, clearly.”

“what? he’s one of us.”

yim yum, minus heptagon, was resting in their cabin.

oval smiled. “you’re right… and y’know, i’m more than happy sticking here for a few more days, but i’m curious as to why origin wants that.”

“what do you mean?” kite asked.

“he said something about never knowing what the extra days are for… like, since hexagon won in the first 16, why are there four more? he wants to know if something’s supposed to happen. but why doesn’t he already know?”

“y’know, origin is so strange to me,” parallelogram said. “i don’t think he has ill-intent at all, but i do feel like there’s a lot he isn’t telling us. who is he? what is he? what’s really going on with möbius strip?”

“are you sure he knows?”

parallelogram just shrugged.

the cool kids and group two were hanging out in their respective cabins, continuing to catch up after everything.

helvetica was in their own. well, helvetica minus hexagon. her bed was occupied only by her ukulele.

“hey, octagon,” trapezoid spoke up, “can i talk to you?”

“...sure,” she replied.

“...about hexagon.”

octagon sighed.

“look, i know that what she did hurt you. i understand completely… but do you really think she was planning it the whole time? i can’t guarantee with 100% certainty that she was really your friend, but you heard what she told you. you’ve been with her longer than pentagon and i have. do you really want to believe she never loved you?”

octagon averted her eyes. “but why else would she do that to me?”

“you said it yourself,” pentagon piped up. “she said she wanted to win, so she made sure she would!”

“but–”

“she was selfish. but that doesn’t mean she’s evil or anything.”

“and octagon,” trapezoid pointed out, “didn’t you just want to win at the beginning? at first you didn’t want to be friends with us at all. how would we know now that you didn’t become friends with us only to advance in the competition?”

octagon’s brows knitted. “i…”

“listen, i’m not really accusing you of anything. i’m just saying that you can’t really prove it either way. but i love you, and pentagon loves you, so we know that you’re really friends with us. we know, even without proof. that’s part of what love is about.”

“but what if i was only using you? then you’d have been wrong the whole time.”

“so what?” pentagon said. “innocent until proven guilty!”

octagon blinked.

“you can certainly say hexagon betrayed you,” trapezoid continued. “you have every right to say that, and you have every right to be upset at her. but think about it. for a while, you thought she really was friends with you. you knew you were friends. heck, for all i know, it could turn out that she was manipulating you the whole time. but until you know that for certain, why give up the friendship you once had? why give it up over probability?”

“don’t i also have the right to not be friends with her anymore?”

trapezoid looked octagon in the eyes. “i know you don’t want that.”

“...no. i don’t.” octagon grabbed hexagon’s ukulele. “how long until she gets back?”

“i dunno.”

“i guess you’ll have enough time to learn how to play that!” pentagon exclaimed, smiling.

octagon didn’t smile back, but her face softened. she was still angry. she was still upset. but no longer at a traitor: now at her best friend forever.

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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geometropolis · 1 year ago

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grt3D episode 19: home (away from home)

pyramid’s eyes fluttered open. how long have i been sleeping? they wondered. what time is it?

they sat up in bed and saw that it was now dark outside. apparently, they, sphere, and cylinder had slept until the evening. well, pyramid had. the other two were still out like a light.

pyramid glanced around and saw that hexagon’s bed was empty. they rubbed their eyes, stretched, and decided to go outside and look for her. they had nothing better to do, after all.

they furtively crept outside into the darkness of night. something about the atmosphere was uncomfortable; this wide, vast field; the black void of the sky; the small cabin in an empty world. pyramid couldn’t understand how hexagon could willingly go out there.

“she’s just like hexagram,” they murmured to themselves, smiling. “nobody else is that brave…”

“hexagram? who’s hexagram?”

pyramid swung around. “WHO’S THERE???”

“...it’s just me… hexagonal prism. i had gone for a walk. who were you talking about?”

pyramid sighed. “just… my daughter. you remind me of her.”

hexagon smiled and sat down. she patted the ground next to her, inviting them to sit down beside her.

“you have the same verve and energy that she does,” pyramid continued, taking a seat. “friendly. sympathetic. brave.”

“you seem to miss her a lot,” hexagon murmured.

“i do. i’m worried for her. i’m worried for her father, too. i need to get back to them.”

hexagon averted her eyes in discomfort. i want to get back home, but… what about pyramid?

“i’ll make sure you do,” she insisted, with a sparkle in her eye. “i’ll make sure we all do!”

“except for sphere?”

“except for sphere.”

“say, what was your name back in the 2nd dimension?”

hexagon chuckled. “hexagon. similar to your daughter. i’m not really used to being called ‘hexagonal prism’ anyway.”

“well then, hexagon. my name is triangle.”

“i knew a triangle back home!”

“oh wow! you can continue to call me pyramid, if you’d like, just to avoid confusion… us triangles are very common, y’know. folks say we’re the strongest shape.”

hexagon nodded. “you’re very strong for keeping up hope for these past ten years.”

“thank you…”

hexagon inhaled and exhaled slowly. “y’know, i really like what cylinder said yesterday.”

“what?”

“that we should all have a truce. we won’t hate the players, we’ll hate the game: we’ll hate möbius strip. we’re all in this together, after all.”

“i hope you’re right.”

“about what?”

“that we’ll all go back home. because i’m sure your loved ones miss you dearly.”

hexagon’s breath caught. “you really think so?”

“i’m sure of it. just as much as my daughter and husband miss me.”

hexagon teared up a little, but quickly wiped her eyes. “we’ll see them all again. really soon. i’m sure of it.”

she patted pyramid’s hand and returned to the cabin to go to sleep.

pyramid continued to sit out in the field a little ways away from the cabin. they stared up at the sky. wasn’t this scary for me a minute ago? they wondered. why am i suddenly totally comfortable out here?

“BOO!” a voice yelled.

“AAH!” pyramid lept back, glancing around. “why is everyone scaring me tonight??”

origin z giggled as she came into view.

“oh… it’s just you,” pyramid said in relief, falling backwards onto the ground.

“‘just you’? since when was i a ‘just you’??”

pyramid yawned.

“why aren’t you inside?” origin z asked.

“i dunno. i came out here to look for hexagonal prism, for hexagon, and we talked, and she went back inside. so now i’m out here.”

“you seem much more calm now than you did during the challenge.”

“hm.”

origin z began to hum a tune, but much to her dismay, this caused pyramid to fall asleep.

“aw darn,” she muttered. “i wanted to talk to you, not sing you to sleep!!! oh well. good night i guess.”

…

“COME HITHER, MY LOVELY CONTESTANTS!” möbius strip crooned. “IT’S TIME FOR THE ELIMINATION~!”

hexagon and cylinder got out of bed. sphere shifted in their bed but was not roused.

“c’mon, sphere!” hexagon said, gently shaking them.

“mm?” they murmured.

“time to wake up!”

“mm.”

the three of them left the cabin to find pyramid sitting outside.

“what’re you doing here?” cylinder asked.

“good question,” pyramid answered.

they all met möbius strip and origin z in the center of the field.

“IT’S TIME FOR THE ELIMINATION~!” möbius strip repeated. “YOU ALL KNOW WHAT’S UP… LOSING CONTESTANT GOES TO THE PARADOX!”

cylinder and sphere exchanged glances.

“AAAAAAAAND THE ELIMINATED CONTESTANT IS… CYLINDER!”

“wait!!!” hexagon yelled.

“ugh. WHAT IS IT?”

“it’s just… i think it’d be a better idea if you eliminated sphere.”

“WHY?”

“look, i know you love proving your point about competitiveness and stuff. so if you really want to see us all fight tooth and nail, why keep around a contestant who doesn’t even want to win in the first place?”

cylinder’s eyes widened.

möbius paused for thought. “YOU KNOW WHAT? ORANGE GIRL IS RIGHT. SPARKLE, GET SPHERE OUT OF HERE!”

sphere glanced at hexagon. she winked at them.

origin z began to buzz, and sphere was dragged towards her.

“toodle-oo, my dear friends,” sphere said. “it’s been a pleasure!”

the three remaining contestants waved goodbye to them as they and origin z vanished.

cylinder approached hexagon, her eyes shining with emotion. “thank you,” she said. “thank you so much.”

“HEXAGONAL PRISM… OR SHOULD I SAY HEXAGON?” möbius growled. “I HAVE A FEELING YOU HAD SOME ULTERIOR MOTIVE FOR TELLING ME TO PICK SPHERE.”

hexagon simply smiled enigmatically. möbius strip grumbled.

within moments origin z reappeared.

“sir~!” she sang. “i’m back~!!!”

“GOOD! NOW, THREE HULA HOOPS PLEASE! AND MAKE IT SNAPPY!!”

“got it!” origin z flashed and three hula hoops manifested on the ground.

“NOW, CONTESTANTS, YOU’RE USED TO THE FINALS STARTING WHEN THERE ARE THREE CONTESTANTS LEFT. WHY, YOU’RE THREE CONTESTANTS! BUT INSTEAD WE’LL DO THAT WHEN THERE’S JUST TWO OF YOU. I WANT THE FIGHT TO BE MORE… PERSONAL :).”

pyramid furrowed their brow.

“ANYWAY! GRAB A HULA HOOP, EVERYONE… YOU WILL HULA-HOOP! FIRST TWO TO DROP THEIR HOOP IS UP FOR ELIMINATION!!!”

hexagon grabbed a hula hoop and stared at it, confused. cylinder looked quite in her element; pyramid did not.

“AND… BEGIN!!!”

a big speaker appeared on origin z. she made a loud airhorn noise.

cylinder, given how round she was, was able to hula-hoop quite easily. pyramid, on the other hand, could not. they were much more blocky in shape, and so found it quite difficult.

“this is so hard…” they groaned. “i don’t know if i can do this for very long…”

meanwhile, hexagon wasn’t doing horribly, but she could barely understand what it was she was doing. she was rotating her body, and this other thing was rotating around her. the very notion of being through something was foreign to her.

“you two holding up well?” she asked.

“yes!” cylinder affirmed.

“no!” pyramid cried.

the three continued on for a few minutes before pyramid finally collapsed.

“PYRAMID IS UP FOR ELIMINATION!” möbius yelled.

cylinder looked at pyramid with concern, then looked over to hexagon. “listen, hexagonal prism, i bet my folks back at home have already forgotten me. you just came here a few days ago… i’ll let you have this one.”

“cylinder!” pyramid gasped.

hexagon blinked. “thank you… but no. even if they have forgotten you, they should have the chance to remember you, too. i’m not letting you lose on purpose.”

cylinder held a steady gaze with hexagon for a few moments; this was difficult, as hexagon was hula-hooping rather erratically, her body wiggling to and fro. “if you say so,” cylinder said, a smile appearing on her face. “good luck.”

pyramid sat up and watched intently as the two upped their game. origin z joined them, and manifested a box of plus popcorn.

“DON’T TALK TO THE CONTESTANTS!” möbius yelled at her.

“I’M NOT!” she yelled back.

pyramid chuckled.

cylinder and hexagon went at it for a while: cylinder, because she was good at it, and hexagon, out of sheer willpower. hexagon was flailing around, but she somehow made it look heroic.

after about 15 minutes möbius strip got annoyed.

“WHY DO YOU PEOPLE ALWAYS TAKE SO LONG?????” he whined and bumped into hexagon, causing her to drop her hula-hoop. “OOPS! GUESS HEXAGON’S UP FOR ELIMINATION TOO…”

“hey!” she yelped. “what was that for?”

“FOR CHANGING MY MIND THIS MORNING, YOU LITTLE BRAT!”

hexagon frowned. cylinder walked over to her and shook her hand.

“good game,” cylinder said, before walking back to the cabin with pyramid.

hexagon watched them and smiled.

“you’re wrong about everything, möbius strip,” she murmured.

“WHAT?”

but hexagon was already off on her way, following the other two contestants back to the cabin. she turned around and waved. origin z waved back.

…

“sooooo…. welcome to the paradox, sphere!”

sphere was limbless and faceless, sitting in an endless, three-dimensional grid. “okay.”

“i suppose origin y has brought you to the 2D version… hm, if he’s here i can say hi. HEY Y!!!!!!!!!”

“WHAT IS IT, Z?” a distant voice replied.

“HOW ARE YOU????”

“I’M FINE!”

“OKAY!!!!!! y’know, sphere, my brother doesn’t usually yell. he’s only doing it so i can hear him.”

“i know,” sphere replied.

origin z sat there humming for about a minute.

“say,” sphere said, “would you be a dear and call your brother again?”

“sure, but why?”

“well… you know what möbius strip is up to. origin y can help stop him.”

“um okay… but what is möbius strip doing?”

“...he brought me, pyramid, cylinder, and hexagonal prism to the 3rd dimension and left us here, some of us for years, and is now hosting another competition show to 1. drain us of more money and 2. perform some kind of psychological torture on us.”

“ohhhh… no yeah that makes sense. he is a bit mean, isn’t he?”

sphere nodded. “anyway… it seems like dimensional powers run in the family. i’m wondering if, somehow, origin y could connect to you and somehow bring those three back home?”

“i’m not sure. the two of us can communicate, but, well… if i were to, let’s say, try to send you from this paradox to the one in the 2nd dimension, you’d instantly bounce back here. because you’re 3D. the 2nd dimension wouldn’t like that.”

“hm… well, dear, at the very least we could tell him what’s going on.”

“of course. HEY Y!!!!!”

“YEAH??????”

“UM SO. I HAVE SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU AND UM. IT’S KINDA CRAZY.”

“...DID YOU SEE A SHAPE STAND ON THEIR HEAD AGAIN?”

“NO! FOR REAL! IT’S CRAZY! MÖBIUS STRIP HAS BEEN KEEPING THE WINNING CONTESTANTS OF RACE TO THE 3RD DIMENSION HERE IN THE 3RD DIMENSION FOR ALL THIS TIME AND HE’S BEEN HOSTING ANOTHER COMPETITION SHOW FOR THEM – AND THEY EACH HAD TO PAY LIKE 100 DIGITS TO ENTER – AND IS ONLY GONNA TAKE THE WINNER BACK TO THE 2ND DIMENSION. OR AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT HE SAID HE’D DO. TO BE HONEST I WOULDN’T BE SURPRISED IF HE JUST TAKES THE MONEY AND RUNS.”

for a solid ten seconds origin y was silent.

suddenly his voice rang out. “WHAT????”

“SEE? I TOLD YOU IT WAS CRAZY.”

“oh my primes,” origin y muttered. “oh my primes. OH MY PRIMES!!!!!”

“SO ANYWAY UM. CAN YOU HELP US BRING THE THREE BACK TO THE 2ND DIMENSION?”

“WHO’S ‘WE’? AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN THREE, AREN’T THERE FOUR WINNERS SO FAR?”

“WELL, UM, SPHERE’S HERE WITH ME. THEY ALREADY GOT ELIMINATED.”

“sphere, sphere… OH! CIRCLE! I REMEMBER YOU!”

sphere – circle – laughed. they raised their voice and yelled, “IT’S ME, ORIGIN Y!”

“GEEZ, I NEVER KNEW YOU NEVER CAME BACK… I’M SO SORRY. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT MÖBIUS WAS REALLY DOING…”

“IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT, DEAR. ANYWAY, I’VE LIVED HERE LONG ENOUGH THAT I HAVE, UM, A WIFE? SO I DON’T REALLY WANT TO GO BACK.”

“OH, YOU’RE MARRIED? MAZEL TOV! GOSH, WHAT A LUCKY LADY…”

“THANK YOU!”

“AAAANYWAY,” origin z interjected, “Y, CAN YOU SEE IF THERE’S ANY WAY FOR YOU TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN DIMENSIONS?”

“UM, I CAN TRY, BUT YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T JUST SEND THEM HERE, RIGHT?”

“I KNOW. BUT MÖBIUS IS AN ANOMALY, RIGHT? AND HE CAN FREELY TRAVEL BETWEEN DIMENSIONS… MAYBE THERE’S SOMEONE ELSE LIKE HIM OVER THERE?”

origin y had the feeling that… perhaps there was someone like that. someone who could reach out into the 3rd dimension…

“MAYBE,” he said. “I’LL KEEP YOU POSTED. HEY, Z?”

“YEAH?”

“WHENEVER POSSIBLE, PLEASE STAY IN THE PARADOX. IF I DO HAVE ANY NEWS FOR YOU I WANT YOU TO BE HERE TO RECEIVE IT.”

“OKEY DOKE! BUT WHEN I’M NOT HERE FEEL FREE TO TELL SPHERE. CIRCLE? what would you rather be called?”

“sphere, thank you.”

“SPHERE.”

“RIGHT,” origin y continued. “I’LL GO AND TELL THE FOLKS HERE… I’M SURE THEY’LL BE ON BOARD TO HELP.”

“THANK YOU Y!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“NO PROB, Z.”

sphere and origin z heard a flash; origin y had left the paradox.

origin y translated over to the cabins.

“um… guys?” he called. “i have an announcement to make…”

the ex-contestants left their cabins, confused.

“what’s going on?” oval asked.

“well… let’s just say i’m glad i had you guys stay for the last few days of the contract…”

origin y went on to explain what was going on. with möbius strip, with the 3rd dimension, with the show… with hexagon…

octagon dropped hexagon’s ukulele in shock and dismay.

“you can’t be serious,” trapezoid muttered.

“unfortunately, i am,” origin y said, sighing.

“but i suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised,” parallelogram pointed out. “möbius strip has never really been above board regarding the competition.”

there was commotion among the shapes.

“BUT ANYWAY!” origin y yelled, cutting through the clutter. “...my sister, origin z, is trying to come up with a plan to get the winners back to the 2nd dimension. well, most of them anyway; one of them has been there long enough that they got married and don’t want to leave. so we’re gonna find a way to bridge dimensions and rescue the other three.”

rhombus tossed the grapher between their hands. “any ideas?”

“well, z pointed out that möbius strip is kind of an anomaly, right? most things can’t freely travel between dimensions, because they can’t just change their state; if, let’s say, i were to just throw one of you guys into the 3rd dimension, you’d snap right back to here, because the 3rd dimension wouldn’t be able to handle a 2D shape being there and would correct that mathematical error. but möbius strip is able to do it… my sister was wondering if somebody else possibly could. and that rings a bell…”

the shapes looked amongst themselves, exchanging confused glances.

octagon raised her hand. everyone went silent.

“i reached into the 3rd dimension,” she said quietly. “i can do it.”

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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geometropolis · 2 years ago

Text

grt3D episode 5: poly-gone

the indifferent light of dawn began to illuminate the plain, making everything a paler shade of gray. the grid was not entirely monochromatic at this time of morning, however.

square was sitting outside of his cabin; he had been unable to sleep, his thoughts stormy and tumultuous.

primes, what is wrong with everyone? he thought. with triangle, with heart, with star?

he replayed the scene in his mind of heart shooting star with the color gun. of friend turning upon friend.

everything is going downhill.

“everything is getting messed up–” he was now saying this aloud “–because of this stupid show! whether they want to go to the third dimension or not, everyone’s tearing each other apart over it!”

square sighed and shook his head. “i don’t want to do this anymore. but y’know, we have to stay on show premises or whatever.” he got up and started walking. “that sucks.”

he made his way into the forest for a stroll, and saw a flash of pink.

“heart?”

but it was star, still pink from the day before.

“oh!” star gasped. “did you see heart?”

“no.”

“oh. thanks anyway...”

how long had star been out here? how long had heart?

square left the forest. this was going to be a long day.

…

“okay,” möbius strip started, “before doing ANYTHING ELSE, could you please just make the challenge stuff?”

“sure, sir.”

origin manifested 11 chairs, which he gave to möbius. he then disappeared into the paradox.

“YOU’RE A TERRIBLE CO-HOST!” möbius yelled into thin air. “DID YOU KNOW THAT?? ugh.”

“ohhh möbius strip~!” hexagon sang.

“WHAT IS IT.”

“what’s today’s challenge?”

“YOU’LL SEE IN A MOMENT. HEY, WHY ARE YOU THREE UP SO EARLY?”

hexagon was accompanied by trapezoid and pentagon. “we were taking a little morning jog.”

“SCREW YOU. ANYWAY… WAKE UP SLEEPYHEADS!!! IT’S TIME!!!!!!!”

octagon came with the other contestants, groggy. she perked up upon seeing the rest of her team.

“hey, why are you all out here?”

“we were taking a little morning jog :)” hexagon repeated. “sorry we didn’t invite you to join us. you said you didn’t like to be woken up early.”

octagon sighed. “yeah, i guess i did say that…”

star soon arrived from the forest, dejected. “everything sucks now!” he sobbed.

“YEAH, OKAY. WELL, IT’S PARADOX TIME FOR ONE OF YOU PARTY PEOPLE!!!!”

möbius strip did some strange little victory dance; this only made him appear to glitch even farther out of perceptible reality. he finished, then paused.

“FOR THE LOVE OF – OKAY. GUESS WE’RE DOING THIS WITHOUT TWINKLE. SO… THE MEMBER OF THE COOL KIDS ELIMINATED IS… HEART!”

droplet frowned. star sobbed again. rhombus rolled their eyes.

“HE’S NOT HERE EITHER, IS HE? I SWEAR…”

“he’s–” star choked out, “he’s still in the forest somewhere.”

“OKAY, WELL, TWINKLE CAN SEND HIM TO THE PARADOX WHEN HE GETS HERE. WHENEVER THAT IS…” möbius let out a long sigh. a very long sigh, in fact, lasting approximately 3 minutes.

“so what’s today’s challenge?” triangle asked.

“MUSICAL CHAIRS.” and with that, möbius threw down the chairs he’d been holding. they did not all land face up, which octagon promptly fixed. “YOU KNOW THE RULES. WALK AROUND WHEN THE MUSIC IS PLAYING. SIT DOWN IN A CHAIR WHEN IT STOPS. IF YOU CAN’T FIND A CHAIR YOU’RE OUT. A CHAIR GETS TAKEN AWAY EACH ROUND. THE FIRST TEAM TO HAVE ALL OF THEIR MEMBERS OUT IS UP FOR ELIMINATION.”

“but what about the teams with only 3 members…?” kite asked.

“YEAH YEAH, SOMEBODY WILL SIT OUT OF THE TEAM WITH 4. WHATEVER.”

helvetica discussed among themselves who should sit out, but they couldn’t decide – all of them wanted to participate!

“IF YOU CAN’T CHOOSE I’LL JUST PICK!!! UM… PENTAGON.”

“aw man!” the little shape exclaimed. “but i love musical chairs.”

“oh, i can sit out instead!” trapezoid and hexagon both offered in unison. they glanced at each other.

“y’know what? i’ll sit out,” octagon grumbled. “just get it over with already.”

“thank you octagon!” her three teammates smiled sweetly, hand in hand, as she sat down and sighed.

“OKAY,” möbius cut back in, “TIME TO BEGIN! BUT SINCE TWINKY ISN’T HERE, I’LL HAVE TO PLAY THE MUSIC.”

by “play” möbius meant sing; in a shrill voice he began to sing an old pop song, as the contestants began to walk around the chairs.

“thank the primes heptagon is bothering to participate,” parallelogram said in a hushed voice to kite. “if he didn’t we’d be doomed.”

“yeah. but we can’t guarantee he’ll actually sit down when the music stops…”

“don’t worry. i’ll make him sit if he won’t do it himself.”

kite looked uneasy, but nodded.

square walked around the chairs slowly, narrowing his eyes as his brother walked with triangle.

meanwhile, star was walking with rhombus, who was fiddling with the remote, as droplet trailed behind.

“i can’t do this without him!” star wailed. “we’ve always been together! but i ruined everything… i just wanna go home!”

“but you can’t,” rhombus snapped. “so knock it off.”

“but i don’t want to play musical chairs…”

“listen.” rhombus stopped and grabbed him by the shoulder. “you never participate as it is. i don’t care about your fight, i don’t care about how you’re feeling – just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on.” they let go of him and continued walking. “no, you haven’t ruined everything. yet. keep your whining up and you just might.”

star sniffed and stood still.

suddenly, möbius stopped singing. everyone rushed to a chair – except heptagon, who was dragged into one by parallelogram anyway… and square.

“oh well,” square retorted, “guess i’m out.” he went and sat down next to octagon, closing his eyes.

triangle shook her head.

“OKAY, NEXT ROUND.” möbius removed a chair and started singing again.

“y’know, that song sounds familiar…” trapezoid noted to himself as he walked.

“okay, grandpa!” pentagon chuckled, sitting above him.

“hey! i’m not that old.”

“this song is, like, from 40 years ago,” hexagon playfully noted.

“i like to listen to classics! it’s not like i was alive back then.”

“sure,” hexagon and pentagon teased in unison.

triangle looked over her shoulder at rectangle, who was walking behind her. “pick up the pace, tango!” she called. “if you walk as slowly as your brother you’re never gonna get a seat in time.”

rectangle furrowed his brow.

“c’mon, slowpoke!”

“fine!” rectangle started running – bumping into triangle and knocking her over.

“whoa-hoa!” she laughed.

rectangle looked back at her and grinned.

“star! star!” droplet exclaimed.

“what is it…?”

“would you please tell me what happened?”

star turned to her. “what are you talking about?”

“yesterday, something happened… is everything okay?”

“ugh…”

“i saw you talking to rhombus about it and i–”

“...uhhhh didn’t you hear what rhombus said? we have to move on. yeah. not talking about it anymore. case closed.”

“but you told them–”

“yeah. whatever.”

droplet frowned and sighed, letting star walk past her again.

then möbius strip stopped singing.

rectangle dashed for the nearest chair, knocking into rhombus on the way. they bumped into their limb remote, which let out a beam hitting möbius.

it didn’t do anything.

“that felt funny,” möbius strip said to himself. “ANYWAY, RHOMBUS, YOU ARE OUT.”

rhombus looked daggers at star. “don’t ruin it.” he gulped.

suddenly origin appeared again. “s-sorry!” he began. “i just–”

“YEAH, OKAY. COME WITH ME.” there was an edge of frustration to möbius’s voice as he began to drag origin towards the forest.

the contestants remained seated.

parallelogram loosened his hand from heptagon’s arm.

and heptagon bolted.

“heptagon!” kite yelled, violently pushing the chair out from under her and chasing after him.

she never knew he had it in him to run like that; he was usually so stationary. now it was as if he were running for his life, he was so frantic.

as they were waiting, the rest of the contestants chatted amongst themselves.

“what do you call a lying trapezoid?” trapezoid asked.

“i dunno,” pentagon replied, “what?”

“a fraud-rilateral!”

pentagon started laughing.

“that was so bad!” hexagon giggled.

“why, do you have a better one?” trapezoid challenged.

“okay… what do you call a shape who left?”

“what?”

“poly-gone!”

pentagon laughed again.

“shut up…” parallelogram muttered.

octagon sighed as she gazed at her teammates. “how are they so good at this?” she asked herself.

“at what?” square asked.

“being friends.”

“how is anyone?”

octagon chewed her pacifier. “hell if i know…”

suddenly, a voice called out. “heyyy octagon!”

“yeah, hexagon?”

“come over here and chat while the game’s paused!”

“if you insist…!”

octagon stood up and looked back at square. he shrugged.

meanwhile, kite was in hot pursuit of heptagon.

“come back here!” she huffed.

but he did not come back, or slow down, or anything – he just kept running. faster. faster. faster. faster –

until kite grabbed his arm, wrenching him backwards.

“heptagon,” she started, in a low voice.

he stared at her with wide eyes, but said nothing.

“i can’t believe i ever trusted you… you don’t care about any of us, do you?”

he blinked, but said nothing.

“you don’t want to be here, i get it. but can’t you see what you’re doing? can’t you see how you’re screwing up parallelogram’s chances? my chances??”

his eyes wavered, but he said nothing.

“it’s your fault we’ve been doing terribly this whole time!” kite cried. “it’s your fault oval is gone! why was he eliminated anyway? why wasn’t it you?”

she let go of him, but he didn’t run away.

“it should’ve been you…” she whispered.

heptagon started to move his hand but kite hit it away.

“we’re gonna lose again today because of you! you know you can’t just run away, right? you’re stuck here! we’re all stuck here!”

tears formed in heptagon’s blank eyes.

“you’re a jerk, heptagon.”

and she ran back the way she came.

möbius had finally returned with origin.

“NOW THAT TWINKLE HAS FINALLY ELIMINATED HEART, WE MAY CONTINUE. WHERE WERE WE? OH… NEITHER KITE OR HEPTAGON IS SITTING DOWN…”

parallelogram’s eyes widened.

“SO THEY’RE BOTH OUT.”

“what?” kite cried, finally making it back to the game that very moment. “that’s not fair! it’s heptagon’s fault!”

“yeah!” parallelogram agreed.

“OH WELL. YOU GOT A BONUS LAST CHALLENGE, SO I GUESS IT’S ONLY FAIR YOU HAVE TO SUFFER NOW. LOL!!”

kite stormed off to the side and sat down.

möbius had intended for origin to play the music on his speaker, but as origin had his camera lens, that clearly wasn’t going to happen.

“CAN’T YOU MULTITASK?”

“i could sing myself if you’d like, sir.”

“FINE, WHATEVER.”

origin was in fact much better at singing than möbius strip; he had similar taste in music, though, as every song he sang was one only trapezoid could recognize.

“i swear i’m not that old!!!” trapezoid shook his fists in the air.

“grampezoid! grampezoid!!” pentagon said, skipping around him.

hexagon chuckled. “now that’s a good joke!”

as the shapes continued to walk around, parallelogram kept a special watch on rectangle. since when was he so fast? but then, since when had heptagon been so fast?

unfortunately, parallelogram was lost in thought when origin stopped singing; he was about to sit down when rectangle rushed into the seat closest to him. grumbling, parallelogram looked around for an empty seat… and there were none.

“AND THERE GOES THE LAST OF YIM YUM!!!!!!” möbius announced. “OH HI, HEPTAGON. THERE YOU ARE.”

heptagon had just returned. everyone was staring at him.

“YOU LOSE.”

…

“hey, heart.”

heart didn’t reply.

circle had slowly approached him after he was finally brought to the paradox; oval was keeping his distance.

“are you okay?”

“i don’t know.”

“do you want to talk?”

“i don’t know.”

“hey,” oval piped up, “the challenge is finally on.”

circle and oval moved towards the 10x10 video from origin.

“aw man, we missed part of it,” circle said.

“is anything interesting happening?” heart asked softly. he was still sitting a ways away.

“not really. it’s just musical chairs.”

“if only we could’ve played musical chairs yesterday…”

“yeah. darn.” circle cleared his throat. “...you saw how my team was a few days ago, heart… sorry you had to go through a similar thing with star. it really sucks.”

“...mhm.”

“at least you have all the time in the world to just… relax here, right?”

“relax… i can finally relax like he wanted me to…”

the shapes continued to watch the challenge. heart joined them, though his mind was still elsewhere.

“it isn’t as bad here as i thought it would be,” he said to himself. “at least i’m not dead. or am i? it’s so calm here… if i did die, it isn’t so bad…”

origin eventually reappeared.

“it keeps getting crazier, folks. now it’s yim yum getting put through the wringer…”

“who do you think’s getting eliminated?” oval asked.

“i don’t know.”

“where was heptagon going?”

“i don’t–”

“he was trying to escape,” heart answered.

“what?”

“he doesn’t want to win, but he doesn’t want to be eliminated either.”

“heart…” circle started.

“he’ll be right at home here, i’m sure.”

#story #object novel #osc #geometropolis #geometropolis: race to the 3rd dimension #grt3d

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